A “golden age of heavyweight MMA” is coming, if Tom Aspinall is to be believed.
Hard to argue with a 250-pound man prone to first-round knockouts — when he isn’t tapping them out in less than five minutes, that is.
Aspinall might just be the man to ring in that new era on Saturday (10 p.m., ESPN+ pay-per-view), when the 30-year-old faces Sergei Pavlovich, 31, for the interim UFC heavyweight title in the UFC 295 co-main event at Madison Square Garden.
“I think that the next eight, nine, 10 years of the heavyweight division is going to be absolutely incredible,” Aspinall told The Post at Wednesday’s media day in Manhattan. “It’s going to be the golden age of heavyweight MMA. … There’s plenty of guys 30, early 30s, stuff like that, who they’re not even in their prime yet. I would classify myself as nowhere near my prime. I can’t speak for Sergei, obviously, and the other guys, but I think that there’s guys who are way more athletic than the previous generation.
“They’re way more skilled.”
The interim belt was created in the wake of champion Jon Jones’ torn pectoral muscle, which forced him out of his originally planned Garden headliner against former champ Stipe Miocic.
Jones and Miocic, 36 and 41, respectively, are the two biggest names in the UFC heavyweight stable.
But there’s a sense in MMA circles that, regardless of who was to have won that fight — which ostensibly would be rebooked next year when Jones heals — perhaps both would walk off into the sunset.
Aspinall (13-3, 13 finishes) confirmed as much two weeks ago on “The MMA Hour” when he spoke less than 24 hours after accepting the replacement title fight.
“I was sworn to secrecy a little bit,” Aspinall told host Ariel Helwani. “The original plan was, obviously, [Jones and Miocic] were gonna fight, and Sergei’s gonna be the backup. And then I think they were kind of under the impression both guys were gonna retire afterwards.”
If that comes to pass, one suspects the new interim champion would be elevated to undisputed status.
For what it’s worth, Pavlovich told reporters through an interpreter Wednesday he believes their fight already is for a “legit” title.
To fly back to England with UFC gold, Aspinall will have to overcome one of the most powerful punchers MMA has seen.
Pavlovich (18-1, 15 finishes) has won all six of his UFC bouts since dropping his promotional debut via first-round KO, but he’s done so as a strict headhunter with a 126-to-6 ratio of head strikes landed compared with strikes to the body and legs during his streak, per UFC Stats.
On the flip side, Aspinall has displayed a diverse skill set while running up a 6-1 record in the UFC by winning his hands and landing kicks in the standup, securing takedowns and landing powerful ground strikes, and even beating perennial ranked contender Alexander Volkov by submission via straight armbar.
Just one of those fights left the first round, and he won that 66 seconds into the second frame.
“My trump card is the fact that I move absolutely nothing like any other heavyweight, and nobody can prepare for me,” Aspinall boasted. “I’m nothing like a heavyweight. I think that you can look at me on film, and there’s a lot of stuff that you can see that I do that other guys my size are just physically incapable of doing. And that’s a really, really small bit of my game that I’ve shown so far. My unpredictability is something that no one’s aware of yet.”
A year ago, Aspinall was recovering from a devastating right knee injury — torn MCL, torn meniscus and damage to the ACL — he suffered moments into his July 2022 fight against Curtis Blaydes.
Early on, he couldn’t move around on his own, and it took a mental toll.
But the thought of returning and getting to this point, with an opportunity to become a champion, got Aspinall through the toughest times.
“That’s what motivated me to come back, to be honest,” said Aspinall, who won his return to the cage in 73 seconds in July with a knockout of Marcin Tybura. “Not just that, but I knew that, one day, I would be heavyweight champion of the world at some point. That is my goal, that is my motivation, and very happy to be here. Very happy to get my opportunity.”