Scouting Report: Tom Aspinall

Lev PisarskyJul 20, 2023

Tom Aspinall

Born: April 11, 1993 (Age: 30) in Atherton, England
Division: Heavyweight
Height: 6’5”
Reach: 78”
Record: 12-3 (5-1 UFC) Association: Team Kaobon
Stage of Career: Prime

Summary: Aspinall is a talented heavyweight with an excellent blend of strength, technique and agility. However, there are still a lot of unknowns with Aspinall, even beyond how he will come back from the catastrophic knee injury he suffered against Curtis Blaydes a year ago. He has never been truly tested inside the cage. Cardio remains the most obvious question involving Aspinall, as he has yet to fight past the second round. What we have seen from him in terms of striking and grappling is truly impressive. He wields a fast, dangerous right hand that can score knockouts, either with a cross or a quick, sudden uppercut. His left hand, while technically sound, can be telegraphed and inaccurate. Aspinall uncorks decent leg kicks and has proven to be quite dangerous in the clinch, where he uses powerful knees to the body and a terrifying right elbow—the strike that knocked out Sergey Spivak. Perhaps most importantly, he is incredibly light on his feet for a 250-pound man and moves with far more fluidity than his opponents. Only Ciryl Gane compares. In the grappling department, he secures well-executed takedowns through shots and the clinch. Once on top, Aspinall can finish with expertly applied submissions or punishing ground-and-pound that often involves heavy elbows. He is clearly an intelligent fighter, and outside of a few defensive flaws and some limits to his current standup, all of which can be improved, there is little for opponents to exploit.

STRIKING

• Stance: Orthodox.
• Hand Speed: Fast with his right, average with his left.
• Jab: It has impact and he throws it straight, but it can be telegraphed and rather inaccurate.
• Cross: An excellent weapon. Sneaky, powerful, fairly fast and technical, Aspinall knocked out Jake Collier with it and has hurt a number of other opponents.
• Left Hook: He rarely throws it, but it has sound technique, with a nice arc and plenty of rotation. However, like his jab, it can be somewhat telegraphed and inaccurate.
• Overhand Right: Never throws it.
• Uppercuts: Quick and sudden but lacks expected power.
• Solitary Striker or Volume Puncher: Generally throws one or two punches at a time unless the opponent covers up.
• Favorite Combination(s): The one-two, which is decent and fast, even though his jab is of little concern.
• Leg Kicks: Sudden and land with some impact, but Aspinall often throws them without a setup and leaves his head on the center line.
• Body Kicks: Does not use them.
• Head Kicks: Does not use them.
• Chains Kicks to Punches: No.

Aspinall can already call upon an effective striking game that has continued to slowly improve over the course of his UFC career. The primary danger to opponents comes from his right hand, which is fast and carries genuine power in the form of his cross. The uppercut variant has also proven to be a serviceable weapon. His left hand is decent from a technique standpoint, but it lacks speed and can be telegraphed and imprecise. Though the Englishman throws a solid one-two, only the right cross can cause real damage at his point. Aspinall’s repertoire includes stout leg kicks, but a sufficiently fast and skilled opponent may be able to counter him. No description of the Team Kaobon rep would be complete without mentioning how fast and fluid he moves for a heavyweight.

CLINCH

• Physical Strength: Clearly a big, powerful heavyweight.
• Technique: Positions his body well and executes double-legs and trips.
• Knees: Fires hard knees to the body at close range.
• Elbows: Fast, sudden and brutally impactful from the right side, as evidenced by his stoppage of Spivak.
• Defense Against Knees/Elbows: Decent, but he has been hit with knees to the midsection when pressing opponents in the clinch.

Aspinall is undeniably dangerous in close quarters. He is strong and leans on solid technique, and he has managed to take down many opponents. The Englishman also features a powerful knee to the gut and a downright lethal right elbow, which comes out fast, sudden and hard.

GRAPPLING

• Wrestling from a Shot: Utilizes a quick double-leg that he can call upon reactively. He took down Andrei Arlovski and Alexander Volkov, among others.
• Wrestling in the Clinch: Showed off an easy double-leg at close range against the cage against Alan Baudot, along with a nifty body lock into an outside trip.
• Takedown Defense: It has held up thus far.
• Ability to Return to Feet: Impossible to say, as he has not yet been taken down in the UFC.
• Submissions: Outstanding. He slapped a quick rear-naked choke on Arlovski and tapped Volkov with a technical straight armlock. Clearly an area of strength.
• Defense/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from the Bottom: He has yet to spend any time there as a member of the UFC roster.
• Top Control: He pushes on opponents while threatening with ground-and-pound and submissions. However, he gave Volkov plenty of space with which to wall walk.
• Ground-and-Pound: He manages to gain separation while keeping opponents down and often connects with jarring elbows that have the potential to open cuts. Aspinall could benefit from throwing his body into punches more.

It is difficult to judge Aspinall’s full capabilities as a grappler since he has yet to face a good one outside of Spivak. Of course, their encounter featured little grappling before Aspinall scored the knockout. With that said, at minimum, Apsinall is quite good. He features fast, technical takedowns from either a shot or the clinch. Once on top, he has proven to be extraordinarily dangerous with a slick submission game and punishing ground-and-pound, especially his ruthless elbows. He has difficulty at times with control, though that weakness is mitigated by the fact that heavyweights naturally struggle to get back to their feet after being taken down. Aspinall has not yet been taken down or had to fight off of his back.

INTANGIBLES

• Athleticism/General Physical Strength: Tremendously powerful and light on his feet—a rare combination for an MMA heavyweight.
• Cardio: An unanswered question, as he has never fought past the 8:59 mark in any of his fights.
• Chin: He has yet to be hit hard in the UFC, though he managed to wear a few partial connections from Arlovski and Volkov without issue.
• Recuperative Powers: Impossible to say at present.
• Intelligence: Chooses different gameplans based on his opponent and does not make glaring mistakes.