Tom Aspinall explains origin of Serghei Spivac callout: 'It's absolutely nothing personal'

LAS VEGAS – Serghei Spivac has been on the tip of Tom Aspinall’s tongue for quite some time. But why?

It turns out there is not a rivalry. No, there’s not bad blood, either. In fact, Aspinall (10-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) revealed at a UFC Fight Night 191 pre-fight news conference Wednesday the root of his original callout during a UFC “Fight Island” stint in 2020.

“I had seen him fight obviously,” Aspinall said at the UFC Fight Night 191 pre-fight news conference. “We’re in the same division. There’s no other heavyweights fighting on the card. So I just thought, ‘I know the UFC always pushes for a callout.’ I wanted another fight quick after, as well. I didn’t want to be left without fights. So I thought, it makes sense. He’s a young guy. I’m a young guy. We both fought around the same time. We’d both be ready to go again around the same time.

“So that’s the only reason I called him out. It’s absolutely nothing personal. I actually think he’s very good. He might not have the most attractive style ever, but what he does, he does well. So that’s the only reason I called him out. Obviously, that didn’t happen. Here we are a year-plus later.”

UFC Fight Night 191 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The entire card streams on ESPN+.

Check out Aspinall’s full pre-fight news conference in the video above.