The Diary of a CEOHow a UFC heavyweight champion turns fear into fuel
How body language and steady mental training rewire fear under pressure; consistency and outlasting the room beat raw talent on the road to a title.
CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 14:00
Reaction to Jon Jones’ Retirement and Becoming Undisputed
Aspinall reacts in real time to Dana White announcing Jon Jones’ retirement and his promotion from interim to undisputed heavyweight champion. He clarifies he always chased the title more than Jones, weighs how the decision affects Jones’ legacy, and explains what actually changes in his contract and status.
- •He had advance rumors that Jones might retire, expecting it to be revealed during International Fight Week, but was surprised by the earlier announcement.
- •Career‑wise, he would have preferred to fight Jones for the name and payday, yet his real goal was always the undisputed heavyweight belt.
- •He refuses to see Jones’ decision as a personal slight, saying Jones has earned the right to do what he wants.
- •Mentally, he feels relief: an uncertain year of inactivity is over and he can now move on and defend his title.
- •As interim champion he already had many perks (e.g. PPV points), so the biggest change is symbolic clarity: there is now just one champion in the division.
- 14:00 – 34:00
Future Fights, Being the Hunted, and Staying Active
Aspinall talks about potential contenders, timelines for returning to the octagon, and the shift from chasing opportunities to being the man everyone else wants. He hints at upcoming bouts without revealing details and explains how he balances constant training with media obligations and family life.
- •He prefers “being chased” as champion over having to campaign for fights.
- •Names likely in the title mix include Ciryl Gane, Jailton Almeida, and Alexander Volkov, among others.
- •He plans to fight twice this year if he can get through the first bout uninjured.
- •Despite traveling to Vegas for media and sponsor work, his training never stops; only intensity changes when a fight is signed.
- •He is highly routine‑oriented and dislikes leaving his home environment, so compresses US trips to minimize disruption.
- 34:00 – 47:00
Family Reactions and Message to Jon Jones
Aspinall describes his family’s low‑key response to the undisputed title news and offers a respectful message to Jones. He underscores his identity as a grounded family man and distances himself from any bitterness or trash talk.
- •His kids were largely indifferent to the news; his eldest only needed to know so he wouldn’t be surprised at school.
- •He emphasizes that many around him already viewed him as the real champion due to how the Jones situation unfolded.
- •He wishes Jones a peaceful retirement focused on enjoying family and celebrating an all‑time great career.
- •He rejects framing Jones as an enemy, keeping the discussion on legacy and personal choice rather than personal animosity.
- 47:00 – 1:02:00
Childhood, Early Training, and Finding Belonging in Martial Arts
Aspinall rewinds to his upbringing in Greater Manchester, his father’s early involvement in grappling, and how he grew up on gym mats rather than in kids’ classes. He explains why MMA felt like home as a shy kid and why he gravitated toward individual combat sports over team games.
- •Born in Salford and raised in Atherton, a working‑class, blue‑collar town with factory and trade jobs as the norm.
- •His dad left IT after a redundancy payout to teach grappling full‑time, long before it was an established industry.
- •Tom trained with adults from age eight or nine, often being allowed to “play” until they gradually started going hard on him—his first sign he might be talented.
- •He tried rugby and other sports but preferred the accountability of individual competition, where effort directly matches outcome.
- •He loved how martial arts gyms flatten social differences—age, race, jobs—into mutual respect, which helped a naturally shy kid express himself.
- 1:02:00 – 1:16:00
Purpose, Young Men, and Why Everyone Should Train Martial Arts
The discussion turns to young men’s struggles with purpose, rising purposelessness and crime, and the role martial arts can play in providing structure. Aspinall advocates that everyone, not just aspiring fighters, should learn basic self‑defence and embrace the discipline of regular training.
- •He says he’d be “completely lost” without martial arts and believes everyone should do some form of it.
- •Regular training brings weekly, tangible consequences for slacking—getting dominated in sparring—making discipline and consistency non‑optional.
- •He stresses the importance of knowing at least how to defend yourself and protect loved ones (children, partners, home).
- •Despite being world number one, he wants to avoid real‑world confrontations and sees fighting as something best confined to sport.
- •Martial arts create a built‑in structure and purpose that many young men currently lack, especially when broader life consequences feel distant and abstract.
- 1:16:00 – 1:32:00
Fear, Mental Rehearsal, and the 80% Mental Fight Night
Aspinall gives a detailed breakdown of how he experiences fear and how he uses mental tools—hypnotherapy, visualization, and written goals—to handle the huge gap between training and performing under lights. He contrasts gym warriors with athletes who can actually deliver on fight night.
- •He believes every serious combat athlete is scared before fighting; denial is either self‑deception or stupidity.
- •In the gym, training is mostly physical; under the lights, performance is mostly mental.
- •He works with a hypnotherapist, writes simple one‑line intentions (“This year I will win two fights and enjoy both of them”), and rereads them to keep his mindset stable.
- •He mentally “drills” walkouts and cage moments thousands of times so that the real event feels normal rather than overwhelming.
- •He recently used writing to stop catastrophizing around the Jon Jones limbo, reminding himself “things are working for me” even when politics are out of his control.
- 1:32:00 – 1:47:00
Money, Long Odds in MMA, and Becoming a Financially Viable Fighter
The conversation dives into the economics of MMA, from tiny amateur and early pro purses to the UFC’s tiered contracts and pay‑per‑view points. Aspinall is blunt about how few fighters ever earn enough to buy a house, and how fan‑friendly styles accelerate pay growth.
- •Early amateur and regional fights paid mostly via ticket sales, with some bouts netting only a few hundred pounds.
- •Typical UFC debut contracts are around $10k to show and $10k to win for four fights, with the promotion free to cut fighters early after dull or losing efforts.
- •Win streaks and exciting finishes (especially at heavyweight) drive faster renegotiations; Aspinall’s rapid first‑round KOs earned him improved contracts quickly.
- •His interim title fight against Sergei Pavlovich, taken on two weeks’ notice after a stag do, was his first six‑figure payday—over 20 years into training.
- •He warns parents that MMA has almost no clear career pathway compared to football academies; most dedicated fighters will never make real money from it.
- 1:47:00 – 2:10:00
Fatherhood, Financial Rock Bottom, and Nearly Quitting
Aspinall recounts the period when he had three children under three, was broke, and chasing an MMA dream that looked delusional from the outside. He describes borrowing money for nappies and fuel, feeling emasculated, and how his wife and parents repeatedly stopped him from quitting.
- •By 25 he had three young children and almost no income from fighting, often needing to borrow money from friends and his dad.
- •He felt deep shame about not providing, imagining others thought he was living in a fantasy instead of getting a 'real job.'
- •Training all day while exhausted at home put huge pressure on his relationship, but his partner Justyna believed in his dream and urged him not to stop.
- •He openly admits quitting MMA “quite a lot of times” in his head over injuries, canceled fights, and lack of progress.
- •In retrospect he sees that brutal phase as formative: it toughened him mentally and shaped him into the person and champion he is now.
- 2:10:00 – 2:33:00
The Knee Pad: Career‑Threatening Injury and Complete Reinvention
The black box on the table reveals a knee pad symbolizing his disastrous knee injury against Curtis Blaydes at the O2. Aspinall explains how years of training and even fighting on one bad leg culminated in a 15‑second blowout, and how months on the sofa forced major life changes.
- •He’d babied a chronic knee issue for years, even training and competing virtually on one leg to avoid surgery while chasing UFC momentum.
- •In a London title eliminator, his knee gave out almost instantly, leaving him in agony and potentially facing the end of his career.
- •The injury exposed how superstitious and complacent he’d become: poor diet, wrong training partners, unhelpful people in his camp.
- •He used the enforced downtime to strip out anything and anyone not aligned with becoming the best heavyweight in the world.
- •Two key goals drove his comeback: rematching Blaydes and returning to headline at the O2, both of which he accomplished with wins.
- 2:33:00 – 2:49:00
Jon Jones: Respect, Critique, and Tactical Matchup
Aspinall balances reverence for Jon Jones’ skills and legacy with a critical eye on his matchmaking and an honest assessment of how they’d match up. He hints at advantages he holds—size, youth, unpredictability—and why the lack of footage on him may deter Jones from committing.
- •He calls Jones “one of the best ever” and admires his fight IQ, distance management, and ability to make opponents fight his style.
- •He also notes Jones has been “very smart” in choosing opponents—often smaller men moving up or legends past their prime.
- •Asks if that means avoidance, he concedes: “So, to answer your question, yeah, I probably am saying that.”
- •He believes he poses unique problems: bigger than anyone Jones has fought, close to his prime, and unusually athletic for a heavyweight.
- •Aspinall revels in being a “mystery”—most of his fights are too short to reveal his full game, which hurts Jones’ famed film‑study habits.
- 2:49:00 – 3:03:00
Autism, NHS Failings, and Fighting for His Son’s Future
Aspinall gives a raw, detailed account of realizing one of his twins is autistic, navigating denial, learning through Paddy McGuinness’ documentary, and then having to go private to bypass multi‑year NHS waiting lists. He argues passionately that the UK is failing autistic children and their families.
- •He initially blamed lockdown for his son’s delayed speech and responsiveness, even as the boy lagged far behind his neurotypical twin.
- •Watching Paddy McGuinness’ autism documentary made multiple traits click; Googling symptoms sent his anxiety spiraling.
- •After being stuck on a GP waiting list for about a year, he met Paddy on “A Question of Sport,” got a specialist contact, and paid privately for diagnosis.
- •Diagnosis unlocked crucial support: his son is now in mainstream school with a 1‑to‑1 support worker and is progressing, though the future is still uncertain.
- •He stresses that without diagnosis and funding, parents feel like they are “just treading water,” with no roadmap, and calls current multi‑year waits a “serious crisis.”
- 3:03:00 – 3:18:00
Training Principles: Recovery, Nutrition, Sleep, and Hypnotherapy
The discussion shifts to Aspinall’s practical performance toolkit: how he structures training vs. recovery, experiments with diet, prioritizes naps, and leans heavily on hypnotherapy to manage anxiety. He emphasizes that routines off the mat are as decisive as hard rounds on it.
- •He aims for about half as much time in recovery as in training—e.g., two hours of stretching, sauna, or breathing for four hours of work.
- •Heavyweights don’t cut much weight, but he still tracks how different foods affect his sessions, standardizing meals and timing accordingly.
- •Sleep is non‑negotiable and requires discipline, especially as a father; he will come home from morning training and nap despite kids wanting attention.
- •Hypnotherapy sessions (up to twice weekly) help him with anxiety, sleep, and general calm; he often drifts or even naps during sessions while trusting his subconscious to absorb suggestions.
- •He plans to adopt a stripped‑down “camp phone” with no social media before fights to shield himself from anxiety‑provoking online noise.
- 3:18:00 – 3:28:00
Anxiety, OCD, and the Hidden Mental Cost of Fighting
Aspinall opens up about lifelong anxiety and OCD tendencies, how they flare under stress, and how recent hospitalizations for his son intensified them. He normalizes anxiety in fighters and non‑fighters alike, while outlining boundaries he now sets to protect his mental health.
- •As a child he had strong OCD behaviors—needing everything in a room arranged perfectly or fearing “something bad” would happen.
- •Those tendencies resurfaced recently after a traumatic hospital scare with one of his children, boosting his anxiety.
- •He recognizes anxiety as common, especially in such an anxiety‑fuelled profession, and believes social media makes it worse.
- •For fight camps he now deletes social media; in future, only a small inner circle will have his training‑camp phone number.
- •He sees hypnotherapy and routine as critical tools to keep anxiety manageable rather than letting it dominate his life.
- 3:28:00 – 3:42:00
Success, Still Feeling the Same, and Planning Life After Fighting
Reflecting on the belt, Aspinall admits that external success hasn’t transformed his inner life as much as people might expect. He worries about purpose after fighting, discusses investments and media work as future paths, and reiterates that money simply swaps one set of problems for another.
- •Winning the interim belt brought adrenaline and sleepless nights, but no lasting inner transformation—he still has many of the same struggles.
- •He is aware he’s in the second half of his career and unsure what can truly replace the intensity and structure fighting provides.
- •He’s starting to invest (including equity‑for‑sponsorship deals) and is already doing breakdown shows for TNT Sports and teaching via Skool.
- •He expects to stay in MMA after retirement as an analyst, educator, or content creator, not as a fighter.
- •He underscores that being rich or famous doesn’t erase problems; it just changes their nature.
- 3:42:00
Belief, Being 'Special', and Advice on Shooting High
In the closing section, Aspinall talks about his father’s unwavering belief, his own conviction that he is “special,” and why more people should allow themselves to aim unreasonably high. He sees his story as proof that a “normal” kid from a blue‑collar town can reach the pinnacle with enough obsession and endurance.
- •His dad always framed heavyweight champion as realistic if Tom stayed focused, countering the common ‘be more realistic’ message in working‑class areas.
- •He candidly calls himself special in terms of physical gifts and, more importantly, his ability to perform under extreme pressure.
- •He insists he wasn’t born “better than” anyone; he believes anyone can become special if they work relentlessly and refuse to quit on themselves.
- •He argues young people should first aim for the absolute top—Hollywood actor, world champion—then adjust if necessary, instead of starting with lowered expectations.
- •He credits countless people around him—parents, partner, coaches—for honing his mental gifts, not just his own willpower.
