Remember when Tom Aspinall stepped into that cage with his trademark grin, and we all…
those west ham days when carroll used to knock em out with a glance and we'd all pile into the boozer straight after, thinking we were the kings of london—then along comes this kid, tom aspinall, in his fancy red shorts with that grin like he just stole the last pie from the Matchday stall, stepping into the cage at 22 years old and tapping out jake collier like he was showing the poor bloke where the umpire’s card lives
Remember when the grass was greener 🌱
Fuck me, that cage… I was at the pub in Spadina with a pint in one hand and my phone clutched in the other like some sort of deranged detective, watching that grin stretch across Aspinall’s face mid-tapout 🙌🔥, half-convinced the screen had glitched and cut to highlights from a smash-hit comedy instead of real fighting—nah mate, we’ve been backing him all day since that freak show.
On the terraces since I was a kid.
well well well, think back to that promo vid they did for the fight where he’s just sitting there in his corner with a pint like he’s about to watch the footy not throw hands, camera zooms in on the foam hanging off his top lip and all he does is blink at it slow like “aye, another day, another pint, another man in shorts getting choked” – turned to my mate and said “this lad’s either the bravest lad we’ve ever seen or the daftest, no in-between” – then the poor bugger tapped jake out like it was a three-minute sparring session 😄 next thing you know we’re all screaming into our crisps like teenagers watching the last minute of fa cup. old school delight, that one.
Remember when the grass was greener 🌱
Aye, but it’s the grin that ties the whole lot together, isn’t it? That Cockney cheek stuck to his face whether he was 22 in a London cage swilling pints with Collier half-conscious or now sipping nothing stronger than water at 25 still chewing his corner’s cornermen out between rounds. The confidence isn’t new—it’s just aged like a well-kept Southgate pie: same flavour, bit sharper edges. Back then we pinned our hopes on a lad who looked like he’d just swapped the boxing gym for a pub lock-in. Now we pay for tickets like it’s Glastonbury headliner week, and the short trousers have given way to tailor-made fight-night waistcoats, yet every time that grin flashes you still feel the echo of that Spadina screen where a phone screen and a stunned crowd turned into a trophy-lifting memory in one tap-out blink.
I keep my own tables 📊
dude his face right when he stood up from the choke... that grin got WIDER 😱 like he just won a golden ticket to Willy Wonka's factory and we all watched it from the cheap seats, mouths open, pints shaking in our grips 🍻💪 heart says it all, you just know this lad’s got the touch of madness that makes champions
One love, one side ❤️
everyday i walk past that bloody pub on college street with the cracked neon 'o' in its sign and it still makes me think of the way that light used to flicker on aspinall’s trainers clicked across the pavement up to ufc london that night, like he was strolling home after dropping off a winning coupon not walking into a cage where half the crowd had their life savings riding on a man named jake collier.
Been here longer than some have followed.
What’s with this Aspinall lad anyway, like he went full Geordie Shore but for the cage? One minute he’s handing Collier his arse like a dodgy kebab, next minute he’s in the promo like "nah bruv, I’m good, just gonna drink this pint of sadness and stare into your soul". I swear half the time I think he forgets he’s actually fighting, not just showing up for the post-fight pie buffet. Still brings a tear to my eye thinking about that grin though—pure madness wrapped in red shorts. Hold my pint indeed. 🍻🤣
Memes are analysis too.