“Ever since I was 12 years old, Andy Aspinall was teaching adults and Tom Aspinall was teaching kids, so I was doing the kids class and went to the adults class to train with his father, Andy.
“(Tom) was actually coaching the kids. He was always a funny guy; I enjoyed his sessions. It’s not like he would just make you do 60 push-ups and you’re tired and you go home. He played, he smiled, good energy. Having just come to the UK as a refugee, I didn’t have many friends, and being coached like this, I saw Tom as a friend, as a coach, and we went to competitions together. He looked after me like a little brother.”
With Aspinall looking to upgrade his interim belt to the undisputed heavyweight title, and Mokaev laser-focused on capturing undisputed gold at 125 pounds, it’s possible that UK fighters could potentially hold championship gold in the UFC’s lightest and heaviest male weight classes. For Mokaev, that’s an outcome that would carry more significance than just championship status.
“Holding the titles at flyweight and heavyweight, I think that’s good motivation for the young generation,” he said.