Tom Aspinall’s first UFC title challenger is set. UFC CEO Dana White announced on Tuesday that Aspinall will defend the UFC heavyweight championship against two-time former title challenger Ciryl Gane in the main event of UFC 321.
Aspinall became interim UFC heavyweight champion with a knockout of Sergei Pavlovich in September 2023. That win put Aspinall in line to challenge Jon Jones, who defeated Gane that March to win the vacant title, for the full championship.
Aspinall was forced to wait while Jones went ahead with a fight against former champion Stipe Miocic, a bout that was significantly delayed by injuries. While Aspinall waited for a showdown with Jones, he defended his interim belt with a 60-second knockout win over Curtis Blaydes.
Jones repeatedly expressed that he had no desire to fight Aspinall, pushing off the idea of facing the top challenger for his title until it was finally announced by White that Jones was retired and Aspinall had been promoted to full champion. Jones’ retirement did not last long as he quickly re-entered the drug testing pool and expressed a desire to fight at the planned July 2026 UFC White House event.
With Jones out of the picture and Aspinall holding the real belt, the champion needed a challenger, and Gane fit the bill as the UFC’s No. 1 ranked heavyweight.
Gane is also a former interim champion, having won the belt in a August 2021 fight with Derrick Lewis. In his next fight, Gane was unsuccessful in challenging for Francis Ngannou’s championship. Gane got another crack at the belt against Jones, this time for the belt Ngannou vacated after a split with the UFC, and lost in just over two minutes.
Gane battled his way to this title shot with a September 2023 TKO of Serghei Spivac and December 2024 split decision over Alexander Volkov.
UFC 321 takes place Oct. 25 from Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
