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This Saturday, Tom Aspinall will step in on short notice to take on Sergei Pavlovich in an interim heavyweight title bout at UFC 295. The matchup will be the proving ground for the next great heavyweight in the post-Jon Jones era and has drawn the attention of various celebrities, including MMA legend Georges St-Pierre.
The Englishman will be carrying the hopes of a nation that is dreaming of its very first time having two simultaneous English champions in Leon Edwards and Tom Aspinall if he manages to defeat Sergei Pavlovich. The UFC Europe Instagram account shared a clip of Aspinall reacting to the video messages he's received.
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The messages came from the likes of Gordon Ramsay, a noted MMA fan, Eddie Hall, a world-renowned strongman, and all-time great mixed martial artist Georges St-Pierre, whose message was the most memorable. At least, according to the fans who flocked to the comment section of the clip.
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One fan claimed that 'GSP's' words hyped him up more than anything else:
"GSP's message got me hyped af, like I'm the one fighting"
Other fans echoed the same sentiments regarding St-Pierre's speech to Aspinall, saying the following:
"If I had a fight coming up and got a message like that from GSP I might tear up"
However, not every comment was supportive, with some fans believing that Tom Aspinall will lose come fight night:
"All this for Russian ngannou to finish him under 1 min"
Another fan expressed a similar belief that Sergei Pavlovich will be triumphant on Saturday:
"This is cool, pretty damn cool, Sergei round 1."
A collage of fan reactions can be seen below:
Tom Aspinall's previous UFC win streak
Tom Aspinall was once a streaking heavyweight in the UFC. Unfortunately, a freak injury early in his fight with Curtis Blaydes led to several damaged ligaments in his knee. As he was unable to continue fighting, he lost the bout with Blaydes via TKO due to injury. Before that, however, he was on a tear.
Aspinall had strung together five consecutive wins, including a quick first-round submission win over top heavyweight Alexander Volkov. While the loss to Curtis Blaydes snapped his win streak, the Englishman bounced back upon his return with a dominant win over Marcin Tybura.
