UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall revealed his plans for the UFC White House card as far as his attendance goes.
With Aspinall still on the sidelines due to an eye injury he suffered last October at UFC 321, the interim UFC heavyweight title will be on the line at UFC Freedom 250 when Ciryl Gane battles Alex Pereira.
You would think that, with the interim belt on the line, Aspinall would be sitting there front row and entering the cage to confront the winner, setting up a massive UFC heavyweight title unification bout for later this year. But that does not appear to be the case.
Tom Aspinall Reveals Plans for Attending UFC White House Card
Speaking to the “Fight Your Corner” podcast with Tony Bellew and Charlie Parsons, Aspinall confirmed that he has not been asked by the UFC to attend the White House card yet.
“No, they have not asked me. No one’s asked me yet,” Aspinall said.
The champ was then asked if he felt he was being disrespected by the UFC, though he doesn’t feel he is. And if they did ask him, he’d fly to Washington, D.C., and go to it.
“To be honest, I’ve never really thought about it until you asked me. No, I don’t feel disrespected. They should come to me. (If they asked) I’d be there,” Aspinall said.
What Will UFC Do With Tom Aspinall?
Last week, Aspinall’s manager, boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, asked UFC president Dana White to release his client from the Ultimate Fighting Championship, saying that he was being underpaid, which has led to Aspinall being unhappy.
So far, we have not heard White reply to this request, and he most likely won’t reply to it until a reporter asks him about it next week at the UFC White House card’s pre-fight media availability, as you know, someone will ask him.
For the UFC, there is no real benefit to releasing Aspinall, as the promotion has him under contract and won’t want to let him go and become a free agent, as that would mean he could go anywhere he wants, as far as another MMA promotion or boxing promotion goes.
Instead, the UFC is likely hoping that Aspinall can get healthy enough so he can get back into the Octagon and fight the winner of Pereira vs. Gane later this year.
That being said, it is a bit odd that no one from the UFC has asked Aspinall to be in attendance at UFC Freedom 250 so he can confront the winner of the interim heavyweight title fight. If the UFC wants to truly build up that title unification bout for later this year, then it makes a lot of sense for the champ to be there and confront the interim champ.
We’ll see if the UFC does get in contact with Aspinall, as there are still 11 days until the UFC White House card. But for now, it does not appear that he will be in attendance, and it’s quite shocking to think about that being the case.
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