A top UFC heavyweight believes that Ciryl Gane does not have the motivation needed to beat Tom Aspinall.
Undetermined UFC Heavyweight Champion Tom Aspinall will make his first title defense against former interim title holder Ciryl Gane in the UFC 321 Main Event in October. Aspinall was promoted to undisputed champion after the retirement of Jon Jones last month, and this will be Gane's third career Linear UFC title.
After the UFC 321 -Vecht announcement, Gane saw that basketball and football played in his native France. Some have wondered whether or not Gane is 100 percent focused on his upcoming heavyweight title shot, especially for a puzzle like Aspinall.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Jailton Almeida asks Ciryl Gane's motivation prior to the UFC 321 title shot
Gane's title shot against Aspinall, despite the failure, came in earlier title fights against Jones and Francis Ngannou. Jones submitted Gane to UFC 285 within a few seconds, while Ngannou achieved a unanimous decision victory at UFC 270.
Gane's upcoming UFC 321 headliner may be his last shot to earn heavyweight gold. Despite the added pressure for UFC 321, a top candidate believes that Gane has already disadvantaged himself.
In a recent performance on the Ariel Helwani show, UFC doubted heavyweight competition Jilton Almeida Gane's willingness for the Aspinall title shot.
“I am pretty sure that Aspinall beats Gane. It seems that Gane has other priorities in his life at the moment, and once you are fighting at this level, there can be no other priority … you have to be all-in.
“I understand that he makes the title shot, because who is not going to take a title fight for the heavyweight belt? But I think his priorities are now in a different place.”
Almeida will share a map with Gane and Aspinall on UFC 321. Almeida will come off with Gane's two -time rival, Alexander Volkov, on the main map in a likely no. 1 candidate fight.
Ciryl Gane seems to lose Jon Jones, Francis Ngannou on UFC 321
In a separate interview with Ariel Helwani, Gane's old coach Fernand Lopez concluded the claims of Almeida and confirmed that Gane is laser -oriented on his upcoming heavyweight title fight. Aspinall and Gane are linked several times to a fight during their career.
Gane comes from a controversial victory over Volkov at UFC 310 in December. UFC CEO Dana White apologized to Volkov for the observed robbery, but decided to give the next title recording anyway.
Aspinall also comes to UFC 321 with some extra pressure with Jones' shade that has been cast over the division. He promised to 'get away' at UFC 321 and eliminate his place in the heavyweight title photo.