UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall has revealed he would be open to a boxing match with former champion Francis Ngannou during a podcast appearance.
When the topic of Ngannou came up, Aspinall made clear his desire for a compete in any format. “I’d love that match. I’ve always wanted that matchup,” he said, before acknowledging the complication of their current situations. “He’s out of the UFC and I’m in, so we’re a little bit stuck in the moment.”
The conversation then turned to whether the two could meet in a boxing ring instead. Aspinall was honest about his limitations but remained intrigued by the idea.
“Well, that’s a good question. It’s hard to say because I’ve never done like… I mean I’ve had one pro boxing match, right? This was years ago. Just because I was struggling to get MMA matches at the time.”
Rather than dismissing the idea outright, Aspinall expressed genuine curiosity about how he would fare with proper preparation.
He stated, “I would like to see how I’d get on like in a boxing training camp now. Like sparring boxers and doing all that kind of stuff. I’d love to. I’d absolutely love to.”
Host Tony Bellew, a former WBC cruiserweight world champion, offered perspective on what Aspinall would need to make such a transition work, pointing to the 33-year-old’s athleticism and clean lifestyle as strong foundations.
Aspinall was measured in his expectations, though.
“It would be more like a bucket list thing, do you know what I mean?” he said, making clear he is not positioning himself as a future professional boxer while he still has unfinished business in MMA, including a rematch with Gane and a potential matchup with Alex Pereira.
The episode also touched on what Bellew described as a significant oversight from the UFC, after Aspinall revealed he had not been invited to attend the interim heavyweight title match between Pereira and Gane.
“No, they never asked me,” Aspinall said plainly.
