Tom Aspinall to defend UFC heavyweight championship against Ciryl Gane in October

React to this story

Tom Aspinall’s next fight has finally been confirmed, with the Briton taking on France’s Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi later this year. Aspinall is the current undisputed heavyweight champion, and will have a chance to defend that title when he takes on Gane on October 25. UFC’s Dana White confirmed the fight will happen on social media - with the blockbuster event set to be a must-watch.

Highlights: Rodriguez gets the better of Holland in brutal UFC 318 welterweight clash

Video credit: TNT Sports

Tom Aspinall will fight Ciryl Gane this October, as he sets out to defend his undisputed heavyweight championship title.

UFC CEO Dana White confirmed the fight is scheduled to take place on October 25 on social media, with Abu Dhabi selected to host the blockbuster UFC 321.

Aspinall has not fought for nearly a year, his last bout coming in July 2024, when he beat Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304.

UFC

The best UFC knockouts of 2025 - Topuria, Pereira, Murphy and more

31/12/2025 at 17:59

There was much talk of an expected fight with Jon Jones, but the American opted to retire rather than face Aspinall - and his retirement promoted the Briton to become the undisputed heavyweight champion.

Jones’ retirement was announced by White, prompting Aspinall to state he was going to be much more "active" in his defence of the title.

"I want to be the best heavyweight ever to walk the face of the earth.

"I'm going to defend this thing as many times as I possibly can. I'm going to keep you guys entertained now," he said.

Those words have proven true, with Aspinall to face Gane this autumn. The 35-year-old Frenchman is a former interim champion himself, after beating Derrick Lewis back in 2021.

But Gane then lost to Francis Ngannou the following year, and he lost to Jones in 2023 to give him a 13-2 record.

The fight is scheduled to take place at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Aspinall has not lost since 2022, and has a 15-3 record. His UFC record is 8-1, the only loss coming against Blaydes three years ago.

That fight was cut short after a matter of seconds thanks to a freak knee injury to Aspinall.

Since then, he has beaten Marcin Tybura, Sergei Pavlovich and Blaydes in the rematch, and is now ready to take on Gane.

"For the last year I've just been training non stop, and anytime you are training, you are improving," he said.

"We now have a fight and can move forward with that, I’m really happy about that.

"I’ve had a really good year in my life, but as far as professionally, I would have liked to have been more active."

Stream UFC cards live on TNT Sports and discovery+

UFC

Title-chasing Kape backs himself as Portugal's second biggest star after Ronaldo

14/12/2025 at 13:41

UFC

White denies making 'derogatory' comments about Aspinall

07/12/2025 at 17:50