Because the UFC returns to the opulent Etihad Area on Yas Island for UFC 321, all eyes are locked on the Octagon’s middle: a heavyweight title conflict that might redefine the division’s future.
In the primary occasion, undisputed champion Tom Aspinall (15-3) places his belt on the road for the primary time in opposition to the slick-striking Ciryl Gane (13-2), a former interim kingpin hungry for redemption. With Aspinall put in as a heavy favourite at -345 odds to Gane’s +275, this isn’t only a battle—it’s a proving floor for 2 eras colliding below the desert lights.
Aspinall, the 32-year-old Englishman whose finishes come quicker than most fighters’ warm-ups, ascended to undisputed standing earlier this yr after Jon Jones’ retirement left the throne vacant. His path to glory has been a demolition derby: a blistering first-round knockout of Sergei Pavlovich to snag the interim strap in 2023, adopted by a 60-second revenge KO of Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 final July—avenging his lone UFC blemish, a freak knee damage.
Black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a boxing pedigree honed below his father’s tutelage, Aspinall blends explosive energy with technical wizardry. He’s promised a “bulldozing” efficiency, dismissing Gane’s probabilities except the Frenchman lands a miracle counter. At 6-foot-5 with a 78-inch attain, the Liverpudlian strikes like a welterweight nightmare, ending all 15 of his wins (11 by stoppage). However whispers persist: Has the division’s most harmful finisher been battle-tested sufficient in five-round wars?
Enter Gane, the 35-year-old Parisian prodigy as soon as hailed as MMA’s subsequent evolution—a 6-foot-4 kickboxing savant who burst onto the scene in 2019 with a seven-fight tear, capturing the interim title by way of fifth-round TKO over Derrick Lewis. “Bon Gamin” (The Good Child) dazzles with pinpoint Muay Thai, evasive footwork, and a granite chin that’s seen him by means of wars.
But his ledger tells a story of squandered promise: a unanimous resolution loss to Francis Ngannou in 2021, a stunning first-round submission to Jones in 2023, and a razor-thin break up resolution over Alexander Volkov final December that even UFC CEO Dana White publicly contested. Gane’s takedown protection—lengthy a Achilles’ heel—has improved, as evidenced by his 2023 TKO of Serghei Spivac, however in opposition to Aspinall’s grappling onslaught, it’ll be examined like by no means earlier than.
“That is my period now,” Gane declared at Friday’s weigh-ins, the place he tipped the scales at 247.5 kilos to Aspinall’s 255.
The stylistic chess match is mouthwatering: Aspinall’s forward-pressure blitz versus Gane’s lateral mastery. Specialists lean Aspinall, with CBS Sports activities’ consensus choosing the champ to complete early by way of ground-and-pound or strikes. But Gane’s elite cardio might drag this into championship rounds, the place his quantity placing shines. A win for Aspinall cements him because the division’s alpha, eyeing legacy bouts; for Gane, it’s a phoenix-from-ashes second to reclaim his throne.
UFC 321’s pay-per-view important card kicks off at 2 p.m. ET Saturday (10 p.m. native time), streaming on ESPN+ PPV within the U.S. (£19.99 on TNT Sports activities Field Workplace within the UK) after prelims at 10 a.m. ET on the ESPN App.
Co-main occasion?
A girls’s strawweight title rematch between Virna Jandiroba and Mackenzie Dern. Tune in—historical past awaits within the UAE.
