UFC heavyweight Tom Aspinall looks ahead to his upcoming fight against Marcin Tybura

The Atherton-born heavyweight, who has been training at Wigan Warriors’ Robin Park Arena, is in action against Marcin Tybura at the O2 Arena on July 22.

Aspinall is excited to make his MMA return after recovering from the knee injury he picked up in his defeat to Curtis Blaydes last year, with the 30-year-old suffering ligament damage to his ACL and MCL.

“I’m very excited for the fight, I feel as if this is the next chapter of my career,” he said.

“There’s nothing like fighting at the O2 in front of 22,000 people shouting for you- it’s unbelievable.

“I’m the main event as well, so everyone would’ve had a few beers by then and the crowd will be wild.

“I’ve got another eight to 10 years left in me as a heavyweight, and I want to show people what I can do with the right training.

“My body is good now.

“My knee had been bothering me for a long time, so although it was bad, I’m glad the injury happened because it’s fixed now.

“At first it was a mental struggle, because I couldn’t walk and I was stuck on the coach for six weeks unable to get up.

“I had a really good physio, who really kept me in a good mind frame.

“He worked on my whole body from the head down.

“I feel revitalised and fresh, whereas before, I was fighting so often, it was taking its toll.

“The next month will be quite miserable, it’ll just be getting beat up most days, which is exhausting.

“I’ve been training for this camp for nearly six months, so I did a lot of sparring early.

“I’ll do it again next week, and that’ll be me done with that because I don’t want to risk anything.

“I feel like my timing is really good and my cardio is where it needs to be, so I’ll be taking my foot off the gas a little bit.

“My body and my mind is in a good spot so I’ll cruise until the end.

“You can’t focus on your opponent too much, because then you’ll start forgetting what you’re good at, which I’ve been guilty of a few times.

“I’m lucky to have really good coaches who will study him well.

“I’ll also watch him myself, to figure out his tendencies and put that in the game plan, instead of me thinking about him too much.”

Aspinall says it is pleasing to see so many people from around the North West thriving, and hopes his achievements will inspire others.

“England in general is doing well on the world stage in a range of different sports, which is nice to see,” he added.

“When you’re from a similar area to Wigan and you see someone else doing it, then it gives you hope.

“If I can be someone that kids can look at, then it’d be really good.”