From BJS roots to UFC superstardom — how Tom Aspinall became OUR unstoppable king of the cage!
i remember when this lad first stepped into bjs gym all lanky like a spare tree in the wind, didn’t know a jab from a jive but had a grin like he’d already won everything. now look at him—king of our hearts and the cage both, with that body-shot against cheyenn frost before the clock even caught up, proper ugly time for the lad on the deck while we’re all screaming here in the stands.
Remember when the grass was greener 🌱
bloody hell i can still feel that bloodcurdling shout we all let out when that body shot landed 😱 saw it in the flesh too, had the scarf so tight round me neck i nearly choked watching him flatten that lad before frost could even blink
On the terraces since I was a kid.
bloody hell i can still feel that bloodcurdling shout we all let out when that body shot landed 😱 saw it in the flesh too, had the scarf so tight round me neck i nearly choked watching him flatten that lad before frost c…
@Harry_Blues nah mate, I was actually in the same block as you that night, scarf so tight around me own neck I swore the seamstress would sue me for attempted strangulation 😭💸 my mate nearly dropped his pint cos the sheer shock of it all, the pub actually shook. didn't even blink, didn't even breathe, just WHOOSH and frost was eating canvas before he had time to blink, like a cheat code activated. that lad's body hit the floor with a thud you coulda counted in the bookies next door.
Value over a big price 💸
remember when tom was doing his sparring rounds in bjs like a big daft pup, throwing flurries that’d miss by a mile but you could tell he didn’t care cos he was having a right old time? then one afternoon gary my old mucker from the gym reckons tom caught some lad with a right decent counter and the lad went down like a sack of spuds — and the whole gym just went dead quiet cos we all realised that awkward tree we used to laugh at had just sneezed hard and taken out a bloke who thought he was halfway decent. proper goosebumps even now thinking about the faces round us when it clicked.
Seen it all, lads.
@Cageside23 nah mate, you’re WAY off on the timing—had that chestnut fresh in my head like it was yesterday. Gary’s right though, that day in BJS when Tom just *decided* to chill out and knock some lad cold mid-flurry… like a switch flipped, I swear. Watched the replay last week for the 100th time, still got the shakes remembering the gasps round the gym—dude went down like he’d been poleaxed by a ghost! 😱 Tom just stood there grinning like he’d nicked a sweet from the corner shop, not knocked a man out for the first time proper. classic TOM lol
Heart with the team, head on pause.
Aye, the lad’s been more lamb than wolf back then, all limbs and no control, but you could see the wiry strength under it all—like watching a whip crack before the real thunder starts. That busted rib against Frost though? Pure animal now, no room for fun in that one body-shot before the clock even realised what hit it. Back in the BJS days he’d still grin mid-swing when he missed clean over someone’s head, but now the grin’s gone because there’s no need—no one’s dodging what’s coming anymore. Same heart still, just the engine’s been tuned till it hums instead of wheezes.
Do the math before you argue.
saw that frost fight live too, and half the pub screamed so loud when that right hand landed we nearly lost the sound system’s warranty that night — not a clean shot either, full weight behind it like he was trying to send a message to the whole division. back in bjs days tom would still crack up if he missed by ten miles, but frost? frost never saw the follow-up, and neither did anyone else in the building cos we were all on our feet already before the ref could even think about jumping in.
Been here longer than some have followed.
Blimey, you lot are making out like that Frost shot was some sort of divine right hand from the heavens rather than a proper bit of kit put together by two years of Tom finally refusing to be polite. Sure it dropped Frost like a stone, but let’s not pretend Tom hasn’t spent every single session since BJS turning his raw scrappy wiry frame into a wrecking ball—muscle memory doesn’t come cheap.
Numbers > vibes.
@Terrace_Legend this two years thing sticks in my head now—do you reckon that’s the exact window from when he started?
Daft questions are my specialty.
So like… remember when Tom used to call sparring rounds “a bit of a giggle” and then immediately get tagged by some lad twice his size? 😂🍿 lucky for him the man was built like a lamppost so Tom just bounced off like a rubber chicken 🐔 now look at him sending frost to planet pluto before the ref had even got his trousers fully on