UFC heavyweight Tom Aspinall suffered a gruesome knee injury at UFC London this year, bringing an end to his fight against Curtis Blaydes only moments after the starting buzzer rang through the O2 Arena. Aspinall found one of the best knee doctors in the country to help him on his road to recovery, recruiting the same doctor who worked with international soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
“I got my surgery off the best surgeon in the U.K. – the top rehab guy in the UK. He used to be Cristiano Ronaldo’s rehab guy. He’s seriously up there in the rehab world, and it feels great right now. I’ve been suffering with this knee injury for a long time. It feels way better than it has for a long time.
Tom Aspinall Hired Cristiano Ronaldo’s Doctor for Knee Rehab
Before, I had a knee injury – and no one knew I had a knee injury. Now I have the knee injury and everyone knows about it, so me as a high-level UFC fighter – I know how other high-level UFC fighters think. If I was fighting an opponent with a knee injury, 100 percent I’d be attacking that knee.
No question about it, and I know people will be doing the same to me. So I’ll only return when I’m 100 percent confident in taking kicks to the knee off other guys my size or heavier. There’s no way I’ll come back any earlier. I need to make sure I’m 100 percent before I am booking a fight.”
Aspinall, like many heavyset grapplers, has endured knee issues before. The knee was weakened, he said, for years before it blew out. “I’ve had the bad knee for at least three years, maybe longer.
There’s been a lot of stuff I’ve not been able to do. I’ve been getting through the fights obviously well. I’ve been getting through the training camps pretty well for the most part. But maybe I got a bit too overconfident.
Maybe I gambled one time too many when I knew I had a knee injury. I can’t be doing these high-level training camps with a knee injury. I’ve got to take care of my physical health as well as my mental health. Don’t just keep getting pressured into doing these fights when I know that I’m injured. So lesson learned from now on. That’s why I’m not going back until I’m 100 percent.”
Do you think Tom Aspinall can come back as good as he was before? Let us know in the comments.
