Tom Aspinall's long -awaited first undisputed heavyweight title fight will take place against the former rival of Jon Jones.
UFC CEO Dana White went to social media on Tuesday and announced that Tom Aspinall, the newly crowned undisputed heavyweight champion, will be confronted with a former interim title holder Ciryl Gane in the UFC 321 Main Event in Abu Dhabi.
Aspinall was promoted to undisputed UFC Heavyweight title holder when Jon Jones announced his retirement of MMA Abruptor last month after months of contract discussions with the promotion.
Jones has since played on his earlier retirement attitude and focuses on a return to the Octagon in 2026, because he hopes to appear at the planned UFC event in the White House.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty images
Ciryl Gane gets his third chance of linear UFC heavyweight gold against Tom Aspinall
Gane, who has not fought for Alexander Volkov on UFC 310 since a controversial victory, gets his third shot to earn an undisputed UFC title against Aspinall. Gane suffered from Francis Ngannou and Jones earlier in his career.
Before the Ngannou -fight, Gane held the interim -thuufc heavyweight title after completing Derrick Lewis on UFC 265. Gane defeated the will of Tai Tuisa, Jirzinho Roos bush and Junior Dos Santos during his UFC official period.
Aspinall's long waiting time for an undisputed title shot ends while he starts a new era in the heavyweight division of the UFC. The British superstar made his last interim title defense in his last fight against Curtis Blaydes on UFC 304 last July.
Aspinall hoped for a super fight against Jones after the victory of the latter at Stipe Miocic at UFC 309. But after months of negotiations, and back and forth online, Jones chose not to fight against Aspinall and was stripped of the UFC heavyweight title.
Jon Jones casts a shadow over Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane Title Fight
After Jones had reversed the course on his short -term retirement, he went again in the Pool Testing Pool of the UFC, in which he must be six months before he is eligible to return to the cage. Jones remains optimistic that he will return to the White House next year, despite the recent snub from White.
Jones, Conor McGregor and other top UFC names hope for a shot to fight next summer in the White House after the announcement of US President Donald Trump.
Jones wants to fight against whom the UFC holds heavyweight title at the end of the year, which means that the Aspinall vs. Gane winner Jones could welcome back in 2026.
The full UFC 321 card is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.