Getty Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United after the Premier League match between Manchester United and Liverpool FC.
UFC heavyweight Tom Aspinall received help from the elite rehab specialist who used to work with soccer icon Cristiano Ronaldo.
The rising prospect was last seen in action against top-five-ranked heavyweight contender Curtis Blaydes in July at UFC London. Aspinall came out firing but succumbed to a knee injury early in the fight in just 15 seconds. Blaydes was declared the winner by TKO in an anticlimactic end to the headlining contest of UFC Fight Night 208. After the disheartening loss, Aspinall revealed that he needed to undergo surgery to heal his right knee.
In an interview with Midnite, Aspinall talked about his road to recovery and shared that he took the help of one of the best surgeons in the country, who had previous experience working with the Portuguese sensation, Ronaldo.
“I got my surgery off the best surgeon in the U.K. – the top rehab guy in the U.K.,” Aspinall said. “He used to be Cristiano Ronaldo’s rehab guy. He’s seriously up there in the rehab world, and it feels great right now. I’ve been suffering with this knee injury for a long time. It feels way better than it has for a long time.”
Aspinall Will Return Only After Recovering Fully
Now that he finally got the chance to resolve the damage, Aspinall will stay on the sidelines till he’s fully recovered.
“Before, I had a knee injury – and no one knew I had a knee injury. Now I have the knee injury and everyone knows about it, so me as a high-level UFC fighter – I know how other high-level UFC fighters think,” he added. “If I was fighting an opponent with a knee injury, 100 percent I’d be attacking that knee. No question about it, and I know people will be doing the same to me. So I’ll only return when I’m 100 percent confident in taking kicks to the knee off other guys my size or heavier.
“There’s no way I’ll come back any earlier. I need to make sure I’m 100 percent before I am booking a fight.”
Aspinall Had a Bad Knee Going Into the Fight With Blaydes
The 29-year-old Greater Manchester native opened up about the extent of his injury, informing that he was dealing with the issue going into his fight with ‘Razor’ Blaydes. Since he had previously competed with a compromised knee, he did not feel the need to take care of it urgently.
“I’ve had the bad knee for at least three years, maybe longer,” Aspinall said. “There’s been a lot of stuff I’ve not been able to do. I’ve been getting through the fights obviously well. I’ve been getting through the training camps pretty well for the most part. But maybe I got a bit too overconfident. Maybe I gambled one time too many when I knew I had a knee injury. I can’t be doing these high-level training camps with a knee injury.
“I’ve got to take care of my physical health as well as my mental health – don’t just keep getting pressured into doing these fights when I know that I’m injured. So lesson learned from now on. That’s why I’m not going back until I’m 100 percent.”