WWE superstar Brock Lesnar was named a dream opponent when UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall was asked who he would want to fight.
Lesnar, who is now 48 years old, is the former UFC heavyweight champion. He has not competed inside the Octagon in nearly a decade, since his No Contest with Mark Hunt at UFC 200 in July 2016. Given his age and that sort of layoff, the odds of him ever fighting in MMA again are slim to none.
But that didn’t stop Aspinall from saying he’d fight him if given the opportunity.
Tom Aspinall Names Brock Lesnar as Dream Opponent
Speaking to the former World’s Strongest Man, Eddie Hall, Aspinall was asked if he could fight anyone, who would it be. He then named Lesnar as his dream fight and provided his reasoning why.
“I would like to fight Brock Lesnar, you know. I think that would be (expletive) cool, wouldn’t it? Just because like, I grew up watching him and that when he was in WWE. If we’re talking about like a bit freaky fights, I think that’s one that I’d like,” Aspinall said.
With Lesnar being out of the MMA game for over a decade, and with Aspinall being in his prime right now as the UFC heavyweight champion, the odds of this fight ever happening are slim to none. But it’s certainly fun to think about, as both Lesnar and Aspinall are two of the biggest, baddest heavyweights to ever do it, so there’s no doubt that fans would love to see it, even if Lesnar is well past his prime.
Will the UFC Release Tom Aspinall?
Recently, Aspinall’s manager, famed boxing promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport, told the UFC that he wants his client to be released.
“I would like Dana White to release Tom Aspinall from his UFC contract. I will guarantee Dana that I will pay Tom Aspinall a MINIMUM of 3 times more what Dana White is paying him. Dana White should be happy for Tom Aspinall to receive that deal. (Aspinall) is extremely unhappy… unfortunately for him, he has signed a contract which is one of the worst, most grossly underpaid athletes I have ever seen. It’s absolutely disgusting what they’re paying him. Things need to change,” Hearn told IFL TV in a recent interview.
The problem is, the UFC doesn’t have any reason to acquiesce to this request. After all, Aspinall is currently contracted to the UFC, and he’s the heavyweight champion of the world. So there’s no real benefit to UFC president Dana White giving him his release from the world’s leading MMA promotion, even if he wants it.
Aspinall has not fought since last October, when he suffered an eye injury in a No Contest against Ciryl Gane. With Aspinall out on the sidelines, the UFC created an interim heavyweight title bout between Gane and Alex Pereira, which goes down next month at UFC Freedom 250. The winner of that bout is expected to fight Aspinall later this year to unify the belt — assuming he hasn’t been released by then.
Brock Lesnar Named Dream Opponent by UFC Champion