Training with Tom Aspinall has done Eddie Hall a ‘world of favours’ ahead of his MMA clash this month.
But the UFC champion also completely humbled the former World’s Strongest Man Hall at the same time.
Hall has been getting in as many sessions with UFC interim heavyweight champion Aspinall as possible before his fight with Mariusz Pudzianowski on April 26.
The 37-year-old flies to Poland next week to compete at KSW 105 against five-time World’s Strongest Man Pudzianowski, who has 26 MMA bouts to his name.
Hall had trained for seven months to challenge fellow Strongmen Brian Shaw, Martin Ford and Mitchell Hooper in Qatar last year, and when those fights fell through, he was eager to get a new opponent instantly.
Hall has admitted that he’s left ‘no stone unturned’ as he prepares for his second MMA fight, learning from the very best along the way.
“I’ve been going up to Tom’s camp as much as I can,” Hall, who resides in Stoke-on-Trent, told talkSPORT.com.
“[Aspinall’s] got some great guys there. [I’ve] even sparred with Tom, done some grappling with Tom.
“You can’t get any better than that. He might not be the number one in the world, but in my eyes, I think he is the number one in the world when it comes down to it.
“So to go and hang with the best in the world has been a massive privilege.”
Manchester’s Aspinall is currently in negotiations with UFC CEO Dana White to unify the heavyweight division through a blockbuster clash with Jon Jones.
Jones is the current UFC heavyweight champion, having previously been crowned the promotion’s youngest-ever champion at 23 years old.
He dominated the light heavyweight rankings during his prime en route to becoming the greatest MMA fighter of all time in many people’s eyes.
On the other hand, Aspinall has emerged as the second best heavyweight in White’s promotion since his UFC debut in July 2020.
The 32-year-old was then crowned the interim champion after knocking out Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 in 2023, and defended his status by doing the same to Curtis Blaydes in his last fight at UFC Manchester in July.
There’s no wonder someone like Hall, whose only MMA fight came in a 2v1 against two men half his size, learnt a significant lesson when standing toe-to-toe with Aspinall.
“[It was] also a very humbling experience, ” Hall added, speaking on sparring sessions with his fellow Brit.
“I’ll be honest, you spar with Tom and grapple with Tom. You don’t realise how f****** w*** you are until you grapple and spar with someone like that.
“Going up to Tom’s camp has done me a world of favours. When I was prepping for the Qatar fight, my second sparring session was at Tom Aspinall‘s place and [I sparred with] a big Russian guy, 6’9″.
“He f****** head kicked me. It wasn’t even that hard, but it just landed so sweet on my jaw.
“I put it on my Instagram, it went viral and stuff like that is invaluable. If I had gone to the amateur gyms, it probably wouldn’t have happened.
“So I think going in with the likes of these pros and getting smashed in the face just teaches you to keep your hand up – those little things make the big differences.”
Hall added that he has since been working on his own leg kicks, especially after training with Aspinall.
“I can head kick, I can head kick to someone my own height,” he said. “Whether that’s going to be any use in this fight, I very much doubt it.
“Throwing those leg kicks is something I thought I’d never be able to do.
“Head kick someone myself, but I have been able to and receiving them as well.
“You can box and get punched in the face a million times. I would rather get punched in the face a hundred times than one head kick.
“It is f****** lethal. That’s the difference.”
After going back and forth with Pudzianowski, Hall’s fight will be contested in four-minute rounds with 90-second breaks.
He will be the co-main event of KSW 105 as part of one of the biggest MMA promotions in Europe.
The April 26 card also features two title fights as Adrian Bartosinski faces Andrzej Grzebyk in the main event for the KSW welterweight title.
Hall admitted he has no ambitions to win a world title in combat sports, but would rather stick to the ‘freak fight’ industry.
