Tom Aspinall predicts Islam Makhachev vs. Ilia Topuria, Michael Chandler vs. Paddy Pimblett, and three other upcoming fights

Tom Aspinall has shared his prediction for a potential Islam Makhachev vs. Ilia Topuria fight. In addition, Aspinall backed his fellow countryman Paddy Pimblett against Michael Chandler while reacting to other exciting upcoming MMA matchups.

UFC on TNT Sports recently took to X and posted a video of Aspinall predicting that fellow Brit Lerone Murphy would defeat former interim featherweight title challenger Josh Emmett at UFC Vegas 105 this past weekend.

When asked about the UFC 314 headliner, the reigning interim heavyweight champion predicted that former champion Alexander Volkanovski would reclaim the 145-pound title against emerging contender Diego Lopes.

Aspinall then picked Pimblett and Belal Muhammad to win their respective fights against Chandler and Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 314 and UFC 315. When asked about a possible title fight between Makhachev and Topuria, the 31-year-old stated that the Georgian-Spaniard posed a major threat to the Dagestani, but eventually sided with Makhachev.

Check out Tom Asipinall's comments below:

As for Aspinall, in his last octagon outing at UFC 304 last year, he successfully defended his interim title in an opening-round knockout win against Curtis Blaydes. In the aftermath, the Brit reiterated his desire for a title unification bout with Jon Jones, who dismissed Aspinall's request and went on to face Stipe Miocic at UFC 309.

The entire MMA community is eagerly waiting for the highly anticipated matchup but there hasn't been an official announcement yet. According to Dana White, the two heavyweights will face each other at some point this year.

In a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Aspinall gave his take on the positive discussions with UFC brass, saying:

''We had a nice meal, and we talked everything through...We had a fantastic meeting. Everything went amazing, and I understand my position now. I understand what the company's doing now, and you've got to stay tuned, my friend. There's some big news coming."

Check out Tom Asipinall's comments below (52:17):

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Michael Bisping backs Tom Aspinall to win against Jon Jones

Tom Aspinall challenging Jon Jones for the undisputed title has been a subject of discussion for a long time, but nothing is confirmed as of yet.

In a recent interview with Carl Froch, Michael Bisping expressed his thoughts on the potential matchup and predicted Aspinall to secure a finish, saying:

''Listen, Jon Jones is great, and you can’t deny what he’s done in the octagon...A lot of the heavyweights are very good, they’re very strong, they’re powerful, but they’re not as quick and as agile and as technical as Tom...I would be very surprised – and this sounds disrespectful, but I’d be very surprised if it got out of the first round''

Check out Michael Bisping's comments below (15:15):