TOM ASPINALL is dreaming of a Wembley showdown with Jon Jones after his stunning KO win over Sergei Pavlovich.
The Wigan warrior became the third Brit to win a belt in mixed martial arts’ top promotion at UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden in New York early yesterday morning.
Aspinall, 30, claimed the interim heavyweight title in just 69 seconds thanks to a peach of a counter right hand and brutal hammer fists on the fallen Russian.
And his sights are now set on facing undisputed champion Jones in the UFC’s first-ever UK stadium show in front of 90,000 fans.
He said: “That would be incredible. It doesn’t have to be in Manchester.
“But I think if we do the greatest fighter of all time versus the UK heavyweight champion of the UFC in the UK, that would be insane. Let’s do it.”
US star Jones, 36, plans to walk away from the sport after a showdown with Stipe Miocic next summer.
But Aspinall reckons his demolition of Pavlovich will have convinced the Hall of Famer to stick around a while longer.
He said: “If I hit anybody square in the face, they’re going to go to sleep. It’s as simple as that.
“And Jon knows that. That’s no disrespect to Jon, I absolutely love Jon, he’s one of my favourite fighters of all time, I look up to him.
“But I want to fight him and I think I can win.”
He added: “Just give me the opportunity, Jon. Let me do it. Give me my dream fight, why not?”
Aspinall’s dream of following in the footsteps of fellow Brits Michael Bisping and Leon Edwards was almost shattered when he injured his back days after accepting his short-notice title fight.
He said: “I actually pulled my back and didn’t really train at all.
“It’s just been the wildest two weeks ever. Everything was going wrong.”
