Salford-based fighter Tom Aspinall urged UFC legend Jon Jones to give him a 'dream fight' in Manchester after becoming interim heavyweight champion at Madison Square Garden in New York overnight.
Aspinall produced the shock win of UFC 295 to stop Sergei Pavlovich inside 69 seconds, landing two quick left-right combinations on the Russian.
The 30-year-old only took the fight on 17 days' notice, following an injury to Jones that forced him off the card. The Wigan-born fighter is just the third British belt holder in UFC history after Michael Bisping (middleweight) and Leon Edwards (welterweight).
Aspinall was hugely emotional after the victory and in the press conference, called Jones out. "I saw Jon saying nice stuff about me on a podcast as well, its really nice," Aspinall said. "It's always nice but from someone like that who I massively look up to, even more so. "Thank you Jon and just give me the opportunity, give me my dream fight.