Back when the welterweight division felt like a playground, and Tom Aspinall was the kid…
ever seen a bloke so wide-eyed after cracking in a liver shot it coulda double as a firework? take you back to ufc manchester 2023 when tom the kid had the whole french crowd on their feet gasping like they’d just copped a free round of croissants. yeah, that night — 48 seconds and out like someone pulled the plug. i remember watching with me old mate dave over a pint in the living room, half his crisps down his shirt because he jumped like a startled cat. wasn’t just a knock out, it was a bloody masterclass in ‘what even was that?’ the way tom skips in, same cheeky grin, throws a paw like he’s ordering a pint — and suddenly the lights go out on the lad in the blue corner. reminds me when the welterweight division was like friday night down the ring, boys trading shots with no fear and a fistful of charm. that liver shot wasn’t just brutal, it was poetry.
Seen it all, lads.
Bloody hell… sitting in the student union bar with my mates, half cut from the pints after a long lecture, phone on mute, vibrate maxed — and then BAM, the clip pops up. Tom’s grin like he’s about to ask for a lager, liver shot clean as a whistle, and half the room at the bar goes "f*ck me" at the same time. Every single Frenchie stood up like they’d been told fries were free for life… absolute scenes! 😂🔥 What a result, matey — pure poetry that left us all gobsmacked in the best way possible. Classic Aspinall, heart says it all… that night felt like magic ✨
You don't abandon your own.
remember when tom was out there in 2022 at that cage warriors show and just stepped up and cooked that lad for the strap like it was a sunday league footie match? walked out, lit a cigarette on the walkway, grinned like he’d already won the lottery, then snapped him clean as a whistle — no flashy stuff, just man went home and woke up confused. that’s the thing about tom, ain’t never put on airs. back then the welterweights were just lads swinging in from the bar, no airs or graces, and he was the first name on the tongue like a good pint when you’re parched after a shift. ah well, we’ll see
Been here longer than some have followed.
Cageside23 put it perfectly—the liver shot at UOFC Paris wasn’t just another KO, it was the whole welterweight division distilled down to a single punch. Thing is, back then the division had that wild, anything-goes vibe, fighters trading early for all the wrong reasons and a few priceless moments that stuck forever. Today’s scene? Neater, more polished, but something’s missing—the risk that made it feel like a playground instead of a boardroom. Watching Tom’s early career run was like standing at the bar with half the pub convinced it knew how the night would end… then he went and served the roundhouse surprise instead.
I keep my own tables 📊
You saying Tom’s rise was just “kids swinging in from the bar” like some Sunday league scrap? Mate, back then the welterweights weren’t playing kick-about—this lad walked into cage warriors 2022 off a gnat’s blink of proper pro fights and cooked a man alive like he was clocking out after his shift at the depot. He lit that fag on the walkway with a grin that said “I own tonight,” strolled back, and left the bloke flat as a lads’ mag left on a wet bus seat.
Numbers > vibes.
yo but remember when tom threw that sparring session with the nutty pro at the end of his prep and the kid came back with a black eye plus a smile saying "nah yeah nah mate im grand" like bruv you just got owned by tom in sparring 😭🔥 then walked straight to the pub with the rest of the lads for a post-walkabout pint like nothing happened lol classic Aspinall energy—kept the grin even when his face told a different story
Only serious one here — barely.