Tom Aspinall’s one win over an ex-UFC titleholder did not come easily.

Tom Aspinall and Andrei Arlovski exchange punches during their fight at UFC Vegas 19

Aspinall is gearing up to enter the UFC Octagon for the first time in 15 months — and for the first time as the undisputed heavyweight king.

Having been elevated to that status after Dana White announced Jon Jones’ retirement this past summer, Aspinall will face a challenge from Ciryl Gane in the UFC 321 main event this Saturday.

Should the Englishman successfully defend the belt for the first time against the former interim champion, he will have added a second victory over an ex-UFC titleholder to his résumé over four years after first achieving the feat.

Tom Aspinall fought through compromised vision to beat former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski

After Aspinall’s 45-second UFC debut win over Jake Collier and a slightly longer knockout against Alan Baudot, the former Cage Warriors fighter faced a step up in competition against former heavyweight king Andrei Arlovski.

The Manchester native showed his well-rounded arsenal by getting the job done on the ground with a rear-naked choke submission. And to get to that point, Aspinall had to fight through an issue with his eyesight.

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Speaking to Business Insider after the UFC Vegas 19 win, Aspinall revealed that an early punch from the heavyweight legend had caught him in one eye and left him with blurred vision.

“I had a problem with my eye but it’s getting better,” Aspinall said. “Basically, I got punched in the eye early on. And it wasn’t, like, I couldn’t see…because I could see.

“But you know when you put someone else’s glasses on and it’s blurry? That’s what it was like in one eye. So I could see, but I couldn’t judge how close he was or how far away he was,” he added.

Although he ultimately got the job done, Aspinall believed things would have been a lot more comfortable without his compromised vision.

“I think if I had two good eyes, I don’t think he would have been able to hit me,” Aspinall suggested.

“And I’m not being cocky or anything. I think my footwork was too quick for him. So that’s another experience. Fighting when I couldn’t really see that well.”

Andrei Arlovski is the only man to take Tom Aspinall into a second round in the UFC

Andrei Arlovski vs Tom Aspinall slated to go in February

While Arlovski was unable to halt Aspinall’s charge early on in the Englishman’s UFC career, he did come a lot closer than just about everyone.

By surviving the opening frame against the then-future champ, Arlovski stands as the only fighter to have forced Aspinall into a second round on MMA’s biggest stage.

The Briton was previously taken into round two under the BAMMA banner by both Stuart Austin and Lukasz Parobiec, both of whom had their hands raised over Aspinall.

Gane will look to follow suit in Saturday’s main event. Ahead of UFC 321, Gane has vowed to take Aspinall into “deep waters” en route to taking the undisputed heavyweight gold from him.