TOM ASPINALL revealed he barley had a training camp for his short-notice title fight against Sergei Pavlovich.
UFC 295 in New York was due to be headlined by legendary pair Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic.
GettyTom Aspinall barely had a training camp for his short-notice fight against Sergei Pavlovich[/caption]
But an injury to heavyweight champion Jones saw the bout axed and set to be rescheduled.
So Brit Aspinall, 30, and Pavlovich, 31, accepted an interim title bout on just two weeks’ notice at the iconic Madison Square Garden.
Aspinall went on to win by knockout in round one – having barely trained for the last-minute fight.
He said: “I actually pulled my back and didn’t really train at all. I injured it the first week after I found out about the fight.
“I’ve not been able to train for the last week and a half. I pulled my back and I didn’t have any training camp.
“I had about five days of a training camp. I didn’t have a visa and I wasn’t sure I was gonna get here.
“It’s just been the wildest two weeks ever. Everything was just going wrong.”
Aspinall is now dreaming of a showdown with American great Jones, 36, who underwent surgery for his pectoral injury.
He said: “Right now, I want to take a little break.
“I know there’s a lot of contenders coming up at the moment, but I want to fight Jones. That’s my goal.
“He’s in the top two greatest ever. Of course I want to test myself before my career’s over – but more importantly, before his career’s over.
“Give me my dream fight. Let me fight for my legacy, please.”
GettyTom Aspinall celebrates his title win[/caption]