This weekend at UFC 295, big-hitting heavyweights Sergei Pavlovich and Tom Aspinall will collide with interim gold on the line.
The pair of top-five contenders will be making the walk inside the prestigious Madison Square Garden in New York City as the pay-per-view co-headliners.
Initially, championship stakes were set to come in the form of a long-awaited showdown between reigning kingpin Jon Jones and legendary former champ Stipe Miocic.
While many have predicted a sizzling match-up, the Englishman remains unfazed by his opponent’s firepower.
He said: “It’s not really surreal for me. I feel completely comfortable here. I’ve got the heavyweight title shot in a few days, and I’m completely relaxed.
The 30-year-old was just as breezy about having a slightly shorter training camp than he wanted.
“Ideally, I would have liked longer, at least 10 weeks of this if I could,” Aspinall admitted.
“But I had two weeks, which is not by any stretch of the imagination a training camp. You’ve got a week to train, and you’re not putting in any hard sessions during fight week.
“There are some mental advantages, though; there’s not been a massive build-up of pressure like there usually is.
“I’m just going to go into New York City, have a scrap on Saturday, and so far, I feel pretty relaxed about it”.
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Looking beyond MMA and into boxing, Aspinall also offered his insight on who Ngannou may fight next after the Cameroonian narrowly – and controversially – lost to Tyson Fury in his first-ever bout.
