Tom Aspinall wants to make quite the statement for his UFC 321 headliner.
UFC CEO Dana White recently announced that Aspinall will put his undisputed heavyweight gold at stake against Ciryl Gane on Oct. 25 in Abu Dhabi. This will be Aspinall’s first fight as the undisputed champion. Fans have long expected Aspinall and Gane to eventually cross paths and barring unforeseen circumstances, that day will finally come.
A few months prior to fight night, Aspinall is on a mission.
Speaking to his fans on Instagram, Aspinall reacted to his fight with Gane being made official. He shared his ultimate goal for the title bout.
“Finally we’re back after over a year hiatus,” Aspinall said on Instagram. “Me and Ciryl finally signed on the dotted line. This is the fourth time we’ve been matched up together for the 25th of October [in] Abu Dhabi. Me and Ciryl, the fourth attempt is here, and this is Ciryl’s third title shot. We are going to try and get rid of Ciryl Gane from the title picture for good.”
This will be Gane’s third UFC title fight. He’s fallen short against Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones, but he’s hoping that third time’s the charm. It’ll be a tough task against Aspinall, who has been on a knockout spree. His wins over Curtis Blaydes, Sergei Pavlovich, and Marcin Tybura have all ended in the first round. The longest fight in that span was one minute and 13 seconds.
As for Gane, he scored a questionable split decision victory over Alexander Volkov. Regardless, it was his second victory in a row following the disappointing first-round submission loss to Jon Jones. Gane’s performance against Volkov has left many questioning how viable “Bon Gamin” can be against Aspinall, but styles do make fights.
We’ll see if Gane can prove the doubters wrong and avoid being knocked out of the heavyweight title picture.