2 weeks Ago By Aaron Morris
Tom Aspinall once saw a man bite off another man's nose and then swallow it. The 31-year-old from Atherton has carved out a reputation for himself in the UFC , having ascended the ranks to secure the interim heavyweight title with a first-round knockout of Sergei Pavlovich in November 2023. However, not so long ago, he was working as a bouncer in north west England to supplement his income as a fighter.
During an episode of Michael Bisping's Believe You Me podcast alongside Anthony Smith, Aspinall was asked about the most outrageous thing he'd ever seen while working as a bouncer. To which, he replied: "That's an easy one for me, I can tell you about this. "I used to work the door on a really nice bar, and I was the s***est doorman ever - I didn't do anything.
Unless people were throwing punches at each other, I wouldn't do anything. I was the worst." But when he noticed a bouncer from a neighbouring venue enter his own bar and not come back for a while, Aspinall decided to investigate the situation, reports the Mirror .
He continued: "As we run in, a guy is biting another guy's nose off, and then he went to spit it out. "As he was going to spit it out, his friend said, 'Don't spit it out because he'll be able to sew it back on'. So the guy then swallowed his nose.
That's a true story, I couldn't make that up." When quizzed by Bisping about what happened next, Aspinall said: "He swallowed it. I've never seen him since, I don't know.
" Fortunately for Aspinall in the UFC, his primary concern regarding his nose is the risk of it being broken due to strikes, as the organisation has prohibited biting since its establishment in 1993. This rule was something Igor Severino experienced first-hand last year, when he was disqualified for biting Andre Lima during the second round of his debut match under the promotion in March. The two Brazilian fighters were clinched against the cage when Severino sank his teeth into Lima's bicep, prompting referee Chris Tognoni to immediately call off the bout.
Lima emerged victorious by disqualification, displaying visible teeth marks on his inner arm while his hand was being raised. But the drama didn't end there, with Dana White awarding the promising fighter a £38,000 'Bite of the Night' bonus to add a touch of humour to the situation. The pugilist even went so far as to have the teeth marks permanently tattooed onto the site of the incident, accompanied by the text: "I got f***ing bit bonus," encircling it.
Severino, on the other hand, found himself dismissed by the UFC for his actions and received a nine-month suspension from the Nevada Athletic Commission, which ended in December. Aspinall is gearing up for what could be the defining moment of his UFC career as he aims to consolidate his interim title in a monumental clash with reigning heavyweight king Jon Jones. Discussing the potential fight, Aspinall said: "We are actually waiting for news.
I'm chasing it up. "The UFC is saying it is going to happen. I'm chasing it all the time, and I want the fight to be really bad.
I am currently ranked No. 1 in the world, which is amazing. But I want to be known as the best.
This is where the UFC separates from boxing. "In boxing, you have a million divisions and you got five or six champions at each weight and it's like, this guy's world champion, what about this guy, oh this guy. I think you should have one face, one name, every division and I obviously want it to be me.
"The problem isn't with Jon, the problem is he's sitting on the belt and not doing anything. So I think that I want to be known as the guy at heavyweight. Or at least have a shot, like give me a shot, give me the opportunity to do it, and I think I can do it.
" Jones, who previously reigned supreme in the light-heavyweight division, secured the heavyweight championship with a first-round submission over Cyril Gane in March 2023 and then defended his title with a third-round TKO against Stipe Miocic last November. With an impressive 28-1 record, the MMA community is eagerly anticipating whether Aspinall will get his chance to take on the man many regard as the greatest mixed martial artist ever..
