Tom Aspinall Vs. Ciryl Gane Preview

Tom Aspinall has his first UFC Heavyweight Title defense when he faces Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 this weekend, as we preview the fight. 

Aspinall became the full champion once Jon Jones vacated his title, ending hopes of fans seeing the Aspinall-Jones fight. Tom had stopped Curtis Blaydes in July 2024 to retain his interim belt. He would go on to become the longest interim champion in history, as he was frustrated with the failure to get the Jones fight. Aspinall’s record since his leg injury in his Blaydes loss in 2022 has been remarkable. Three first-round finishes have followed, as he stopped Marcin Tybura, Sergei Pavlovich and Blaydes, respectively. 

Meanwhile, Gane has bounced back well since his UFC 285 loss to Jon Jones in March 2023. The first-round submission loss meant he missed out on the vacant heavyweight title. Since then he has secured wins over Serghei Spivac and Alexander Volkov in December 2024. The winner knows they could land themselves a potential fight on the UFC White House card in June 2026. 

Pre-Fight

“I’ve always been in the gym, but it’s nice to have a goal — to have an opponent. I just want to be the champion who fights often, regularly, and fights the best guys. I don’t wanna be one of those guys who take big breaks in between, ’cause that’s what happened. Nothing to do with me. I’m ready to put a stop to that — be active, be an active champion, be a defending champion, and fight the best guys. The no.one contender, and that’s what a champion should do, fight the number one contenders,” Aspinall said

“Aspinall is really well-rounded. I have said for a long time that Tom Aspinall is the new generation. When I arrived [in the UFC] I was the new generation also. How I’m going to win this fight? I’m not going to give away my game plan. He’s got his strengths, I’ve got mine. I’m really only focused on mine and I’m going to do my best to win this fight,” Gane stated