Newly-crowned interim heavyweight champ Tom
Aspinall caught Jamahal
Hill’s attention with a first-round knockout win over Sergei
Pavlovich in the co-main event at UFC 295.
Aspinall stepped up on less than three weeks’ notice, battled
through crippling back pain and showed up to knock out the surging
Russian, who was on a six-fight, first-round finishing streak. The
Brit’s performance has Hill considering a move up to heavyweight in
the future to test himself against the latest sensation.
“I think Tom is a stud, I think Tom is like the new prototype of
what heavyweights are,” Hill told TNT Sports. “I
definitely wanna do my thing at 205 and then go up and eventually
see him too. So, Tom, get ready for me baby, someday. I think he
has great movement. I think his coaches focus on a lot of good
things, the right things to give him an edge in this game. A lot of
them have the same philosophy as my coaches have and employ with me
and things like that. I think he’s definitely built the right way;
the way fighters should be built. It’s exciting. I’m game. I’m
always game. Any time I see somebody exciting or new or they’re
bringing something fresh to the cage, I wanna test myself against
that.”
Following his title win over Glover
Teixeira at UFC 283 in January, Hill had to vacate his title in
July after suffering a torn Achilles tendon during a pickup
basketball game. “Sweet Dreams” expects to get back to training in
early 2024 with his return targeted for the second quarter of the
year. The 32-year-old also claims to have been guaranteed a title
shot on his return, which would pit him against newly crowned champ
Alex
Pereira unless “Poatan” decides to defend his strap before
that.