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UFC: Tom Aspinall says he will fight in Manchester this summer

An emotional Tom Aspinall has his hand raised with a UFC belt around his waist
Tom Aspinall stopped Sergei Pavlovich last November to become interim champion [Getty Images]

Interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall says he will fight at UFC Manchester this summer.

UFC president Dana White said last week a pay-per-view event was being planned and he wanted to put Aspinall and welterweight champion Leon Edwards on the card.

Speaking on his TikTok, Aspinall said: "I had a meeting with the UFC.

"It has now been confirmed that I am fighting on UFC Manchester, so I'm back home preparing for that now."

Aspinall, 31, claimed the interim title last November and appears set to defend that title with champion Jon Jones on the sidelines due to injury.

The Manchester native did travel to Las Vegas to be cageside for UFC 300, but says he is now in "early stages of training camp" in England.

The UFC are reportedly targeting a date at the end of July.

Aspinall, who has 14 wins and just three defeats, did not name who he would be fighting but said he was "just waiting for my opponent to accept".

One potential opponent could be American Curtis Blaydes who beat Aspinall in London in 2022 thanks to a freak knee injury to the Englishman.

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[BBC]
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[BBC]