Tom Aspinall, the UFC interim heavyweight champion, has expressed his doubts about Eddie Hall’s potential as a professional MMA fighter. In a recent interview with talkSPORT, Aspinall stated that Hall, the former World’s Strongest Man winner, is unlikely to become a “good-level MMA fighter” due to his age and background in strongman competitions.
Hall, who weighed in at 360 lbs for his previous MMA fight, has been in talks to face Mariusz Pudzianowski, a former five-time World’s Strongest Man champion and a veteran of 27 MMA fights. Aspinall believes that this matchup falls into the “freak show” category, as Hall is unlikely to compete against true contenders or prospects in the sport.
“Well, Eddie is never going to be an actual good-level MMA fighter,” said Aspinall. “For one, he’s in his mid-thirties, and two he’s been doing strongman all his life and is completely the wrong size and shape to be a good-level.”
Aspinall, who has trained with Hall in the past, believes that his friend has a chance of defeating Pudzianowski, who is also on the decline as a fighter at 47 years old. However, Aspinall suggests that Hall should have a “normal fight against one guy” before facing the Polish MMA veteran.
“Maybe let Eddie have a normal fight against one guy instead of two and then have him fight Pudzianowski,” Aspinall added.
Pudzianowski made his MMA debut in 2009 and has competed for the prestigious Polish promotion KSW throughout his career. While he has been a top-ranked fighter in their organization, his most recent outing saw him knocked out by Polish boxing star and MMA novice Artur Szpilka, indicating that he may be on the downward slope of his career.
Hall had a fun debut against two guys earlier last month and went viral for KO-ing them both.
