Though he still spends time training in his native Croatia when there, Delija spent the last year-and-a-half logging rounds at Evolution Fitness XL, the one-stop-shop where UFC heavyweight champ Tom Aspinall sharpens his skills. During that time, Delija, who was sporting black t-shirt emblazoned with the Aspinall logo during our call, worked hand-in-hand with the British titleholder and stood as one of his most trusted and experienced teammates.
It’s not a one-way relationship either. In Paris, Aspinall was in the crowd and on his feet, beaming with excitement when Delija stopped Tybura.
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“For the past year-and-a-half I’ve been training with Tom, and in every training that we have, I see the progress,” he said when asked about his work with Aspinall and his father, Andy, who serves as the skipper of the burly side. “I’ve shown that in my previous two fights, and I cannot wait to show it again on Saturday.”
Breaking into the Top 10 with a single win in the UFC is a rare occurrence, but Delija has already done that, and now he’s set his sights on the next rare achievement: consecutive wins over Top 10 fighters to open his tenure, which would in turn push him further up the rankings into a position where only a few men would stand between him and his belt-carrying teammate.
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