UFC fighters can go any length to toughen themselves before a fight. Fighters abide by bizarre practices and tactics to increase their endurance and one such athlete was Jiri Prochazka. He decided to rub poison ivy on himself before the fight with Alex Pereira and did that to increase his endurance. Meanwhile, recently  Tom Aspinall has been following in similar footsteps and he decided to dip his hands into gasoline! The interim heavyweight champion is not leaving any stones unturned before he takes on  Curtis Blaydes at Co-op Live Arena in Manchester on July 27th.

He even apparently FaceTimed Ariel Helwani to show him that he was genuinely dipping his hands into petrol before UFC 304. But why is he doing this little stunt?

Tom Aspinall dipped his hands into gasoline but why?

An Instagram page by the name of ‘CombaTalk’ posted a picture of Aspinall where he was crouching on the floor while soaking his hands inside a tub full of gasoline. Ariel Helwani was with him on a Facetime call and was smiling at his antics. However, is it an antic? It does not seem to be because Aspinall has been inspired by the 2011 film “Knuckle” for his latest camp.

This documentary showed how bare-knuckle boxing was used to clear feuds between the Traveller communities. This is a very popular sport among the Irish Traveller communities and Big Joe Joyce who is an eminent personality in that community made an astonishing revelation about how he prepares for these fights. “I don’t wear nothing, just bare knuckles,” he said in the YouTube documentary “Knuckle”.

This interview was filmed in the 1990s to show how the Traveler communities solved feuds through bare-knuckle fighting. This process continues to this day inside the group. Joe Joyce spoke about the benefits of soaking hands in gasoline before a fight.  Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) noticed that the new gloves introduced by UFC did not have a lot of protection around the knuckles. So after getting inspired by the Irish travelling communities who soaked their hands in gasoline to make them stronger, he decided to do the same.

“Mate, they’re like absolute stones,” Aspinall told journalists, including MMA Junkie, at UFC 304 media day. He then elaborated on his inspiration saying, “I’ve been doing the old gypsy method of dipping them in petrol, and they’re like rocks. … If I get a disgusting knockout on Saturday, you better believe that half of the roster is going to be dipping their knuckles in petrol.”

He elaborated that the old Irish Traveller community had a ritual of soaking their bare knuckles in gasoline for 20 minutes at dawn and as the sun came up it hardened the knuckles. ‘Honey Badger’ did the same and explained it on ‘The MMA Hour.’ Surprisingly he is not the first fighter to do this because even Tyson Fury had done the same before fights! The UFC star who has trained with Fury before declared that he could already feel the benefits. On a separate note, he also confidently declared that he does not agree with Dana White’s claims that Jon Jones is the GOAT.

Tom Aspinall slams Jon Jones as GOAT

As the Salford native makes his knuckles stronger for the upcoming fight, he also gave his strong opinions regarding the pound-for-pound GOAT. During a recent interview, the interim champ became candid about how this fight against Blaydes was going to be the deciding factor in choosing the best in the division. He said to FOX Sports, “I’m still going to be an interim champion if I win this Saturday. But you know what? I think, let’s make no mistake, this fight is for the best heavyweight, the number one heavyweight in the world.” He also did not seem like he cared for the belt anymore.

The fighter wanted to beat Blaydes and make his position concrete in the heavyweight division. On the other hand, Jon Jones and  Stipe Miocic could get their bout done later this year, opening the way for the UFC 304 co-main event winner to a title shot. He declared that his fight with Blaydes would be the real deal to choose the best heavyweight and the no 1 guy in the world.

Even Michael Bisping and Alexander Volkanovski agreed that this fight at UFC 304 would determine the main champion who could overtake Jones in the rankings. ‘The Great’ declared, “Jon Jones is that good that maybe he can handle a heavyweight Tom Aspinall. If anyone is ever going to beat Jon Jones, it’s someone like Tom Aspinall who can mix it up… He is that good.” He even said that Blaydes might be able to control him in the fight but Aspinall, “would catch him anyway.”

Truly the Aspinall vs. Blaydes fight is big. However, do you think that the fighter who will win this bout will get the same standing as ‘Bones’? Tell us your answers in the comments below.