It’s not every day you see a middleweight weight in at 264lbs. But in a way, that’s what happened with Jake Collier at UFC Fight Island 3. Collier was fighting as a heavyweight, of course, so he was within the limit. But he’d started his UFC run as a middleweight, which is where he’d competed outside the promotion, even claiming RFA’s 185lb title. He then moved to light heavyweight, and finally, Saturday, welcomed Tom Aspinall to the UFC’s heavyweight division.
Collier looked very much like a middleweight who packed on pounds come fight night. It didn’t take much time at all until Aspinall found his finishing shots. Collier was coming forward but right away Aspinall was the much faster fighter. As Collier was coming in Aspinall landed a knee to the body followed by a one-two, putting Collier on the mat and forcing the ref to save him from any further damage.
FORTY-FIVE SECONDS! ⏱ Welcome to the Octagon, Tom Aspinall 🏴#InAbuDhabi | @VisitAbuDhabi | #UFCFightIsland3 pic.twitter.com/6Wz2HACDk3
— UFC (@ufc) July 25, 2020
In the end, Jake Collier’s move up to heavyweight was a short, painful experiment. Tom Aspinall, meanwhile, earned himself a big finish in his UFC debut. Where he goes from here will remain to be seen, but it’s more than likely that he’ll get a natural heavyweight next.
Official Result: Tom Aspinall def. Jake Collier by TKO (Knee and Punches), Round 1, 0:45
