Aspinall teammate claims Pereira previously declined Tom fight

Phil de Fries, a teammate of Tom Aspinall, has claimed that Alex Pereira previously turned down an opportunity to fight Aspinall. De Fries stated he believes Aspinall is better than Ciryl Gane and that opponents match up differently stylistically with Tom. He suggested the fight would have been excellent for Aspinall. The post does not provide specific timing or context for when Pereira allegedly declined the matchup. No official confirmation or response from Pereira or his team is mentioned.