Interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall rose through the heavyweight ranks to the top of the division over a three year span after arriving in the fight promotion in July 2023. Now that’s he’s a household name and a superstar in his native England, Aspinall plans to give back.
Aspinall plans to start a charity dedicated to autism. He and his wife, Justyna, have three sons. One of them has autism.
“I want to get some more into charity stuff,” Aspinall said on his YouTube channel. “I want to do some more for autism and that because my son’s autistic.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control, autism affects an estimated 1 in 31 children and 1 in 45 adults. Autism, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication but the lifelong condition looks different with each individual.
“I want to do like, make a place – I want to get a funding thing where you can put stuff in public places that cater to autistic people because I know what it’s like to be in a public place with an autistic kid,” Aspinall said. “It can be hard.
“I want to get more funding for that but setting up a charity is not easy,” Aspinall continued. “I’m in the early stages of it.”
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Aspinall won the interim heavyweight championship at UFC 295 in November 2023. He defended the interim belt at UFC 304, knocking out Curtis Blaydes in 60 seconds. He’s been sideline for nearly a year waiting on the fight promotion to either book a title unification bout against champion Jon Jones or another opponent.
Aspinall recently teased a big announcement about his next fight but nothing has been revealed just yet. He considers Jones retired and expects to face someone else next.
