UFC: Tom Aspinall relishing 'fear' of headlining in London

Rising British prospect Tom Aspinall is relishing being the main attraction for his fight against Russia's Alexander Volkov in a heavyweight main event at UFC London on 19 March.

The 28-year-old is on a seven-fight win streak with 12 wins and two losses and ready for the challenge of headlining for the first time in his UFC career — and in his backyard at the O2 Arena.

«I'm not trying to do a main event just to say that I've done a main event and go off into the sunset,» said Aspinall.

«Opportunities don't come around like this all the time, so yeah I'm just very excited for it.»

Aspinall's stock soared last year with stoppage wins over Andrei Arlovski and Sergey Spivak. But the Manchester-born fighter is not letting the spotlight change him, joking that moving house was his biggest challenge this year.

«Probably two of the most stressful things that you can ever do — the move is more difficult than the fight camp,» he quipped.

Aspinall, currently ranked 10th in the heavyweight division, is an exciting striker who hasn't had a single fight progress past the second round. He will fight in front of a live crowd for the first time since signing with the UFC.

«I'm expecting it to be one of the most overwhelming experiences of my life, but I can perform very well under pressure,» he added.

«When there's a lot at stake that's when I'm going to bring out my best performance because I need that fear to get me going. The fear is what makes me dangerous.

»When you feel threatened that's when you're going to do dangerous things, the more eyes on me the scarier it is and the better I'm going to perform."

Standing in his way is Volkov, a UFC veteran with 34 wins and nine losses. The 33 year-old stands 6ft 7in tall and is ranked fifth