Tom Aspinall is learning to be more than a fighter. And if your focus since childhood had been on becoming the most-dangerous fighter possible, as Aspinall’s has, you’d likely find that a novel challenge. So it is for the UFC heavyweight champion, who has turned interviewer in his latest extracurricular project: the podcast The Inner Game.
Once upon a time, things were so straightforward for Aspinall. You only have to look at the timings of his UFC wins to comprehend the manner of his dominance: 45 seconds here, 60 there, 73 at a push. When things go well for Aspinall in the cage, they go very well.
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Yet fate has spliced sorrow between these successes: a knee injury in 2022 kept the Wigan fighter from doing what he loved for a year; another 15 months on the shelf ensued while he waited for a dream fight with Jon Jones, which never came; and this year, double eye surgery, just so Aspinall could resume a normal life and carry out mundane tasks.
Still, these misfortunes have played a large part in forging the man beyond the fighter.
UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall is now in the podcasting business (The Inner Game)
Enforced spells away from fighting have seen the 33-year-old hone his punditry skills and business acumen, and this year even brought his shock signing with Eddie Hearn’s new talent agency (the boxing promoter is a bitter rival of UFC boss Dana White, making Aspinall’s move deliciously intriguing).
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Now, on The Inner Game, Aspinall and his friend Charlie Gibson pick the brains of 12 successful figures from all walks of life. Journalist Louis Theroux is one guest, rapper Aitch is another. TV presenter Paddy McGuiness appears, as does former boxing champion Tony Bellew.
“Every one of our guests is very successful in their own field,” Aspinall tells the Independent, speaking over the phone while he does the afternoon school run – a near-impossible task during the early stages of his recent injury, which was inflicted by Ciryl Gane’s eye pokes in October.
“I think every guest pretty much has the same mentality when it comes to how they deal with things. It’s pretty interesting to listen to other people with different backgrounds, and to hear how we align on mentality.
“We had a fellow on there called Simon Squibb. He’s an entrepreneur who asks, ‘Do you have a dream?’ You’ll have seen his social videos.” Indeed I have. Squibb approaches strangers on the street and asks how he can help them achieve their most-ambitious goals.
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“He was really interesting for me, just because of the sacrifices he made and how he almost bet on himself in a lot of ways. You’ve got to bet on yourself early and stick with it. I think he probably surprised me the most, just the stuff that he’s been through.”
Another element that stood out to Aspinall while making the podcast was the recurrence of impostor syndrome: the idea that you don’t deserve the success you’ve found.
Aspinall with Louis Theroux (centre) and co-host Charlie Gibson (The Inner Game)
“It’s mad, because you see successful people and automatically presume, ‘They’re levels above the normal person in how they’re feeling,’ but they’re just not,” Aspinall says. “There’s a lot of impostor syndrome going on; they feel anxious, and it was really interesting to see how they’ve overcome it.
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“I’ve always aimed to be a successful fighter, a successful champion, but no one’s ever coached me on different aspects like… I have a bit more money than before, how to be in the public eye, stuff like that. You can use the fear and anxiety as a superpower to help you succeed; it’s something I already knew myself, but it’s good to get reassurance on that. That was very affirming for me, to hear that from other people.”
There might have been some anxiety in launching The Inner Game, so different as it is to Aspinall’s main vocation. But while Aspinall expresses a desire to do further seasons, noting that he’d “like to go more into MMA”, he also makes an honest admission: “I think it was important that we get away from MMA and start to learn about other things as well.
Aspinall is the UFC heavyweight champion, although his last fight was marred by an eye injury (Getty)
“Obviously fighting for me is the No 1 thing, it always has been. I still absolutely love it, still want to be the best and all that stuff. But these interviews just kind of reinforced the mindset that I’ve got, more than anything. You’ve got to go all in and believe in yourself above everything else. That’s something that I’ll continue to do.”
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So, next up for Aspinall is The Inner Game, before he returns to the cage and defends the UFC heavyweight title later this year. And Aspinall’s sights, fixed by those surgeries, are firmly set on Gane.
The Inner Game with Tom Aspinall launches on 9 June, with a new episode every Tuesday. The podcast is available on the Rayo app, Apple, Amazon Music, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
