UFC 321: Why it feels like now or never for title challenger Ciryl Gane to shake misconceptions of his game

Throughout the build to Saturday’s UFC 321 main event in Abu Dhabi, when Tom Aspinall makes the first defense of his undisputed championship against fellow former interim titleholder Ciryl Gane, much of the prefight narrative has surrounded the word pressure. 

Aspinall (15-3), who never received his star-making opportunity to unify heavyweight titles against Jon Jones after the two-division champion chose to vacate his title and avoid him, must live up to the label of the division’s next big thing now that the heavyweight throne is finally his despite the fact that his ground game and chin have never been fully tested.

There’s also the reality that Aspinall, a 32-year-old from Salford, England, enters the fight inside Etihad Arena as a 4-to-1 betting favorite even though he has never fought past the second round in his 18 pro fights, let alone the five-round championship distance he faces this weekend.

That doesn’t mean Aspinall is the only fighter facing legitimate pressure in this matchup, which is something Gane (13-2) was quick to point out earlier this week. 

“I don’t think it’s about who has more pressure on their head and shoulders because I have the pressure, also,” Gane told CBS Sports on Monday. “Every fight you have the pressure but, for the belt, there is a lot of pressure from the media and everywhere.”

Even though Jones’ vacating of the title and subsequent retirement in June only lasted four days once word began to spread that UFC was planning a fight card on the White House lawn in 2026, his exit from the heavyweight title picture only added to the glaring lack of depth that has become the reality for heavyweight (which is why Jones avoiding Aspinall so brazenly for multiple years kept the division so stagnant). 

The good news for Gane, the 35-year-old native of France, is that the lack of big-name and/or deserving contenders opened the door for him to get a third (and likely final) shot at the heavyweight champions. But the bad news, which can’t be ignored, surrounds how little most feel he actually deserves it.

If you’re new to the Ciryl Gane story, his march up the heavyweight ladder was as unique as it was rushed. 

A former Muay Thai fighter, Gane didn’t start training in MMA until 2018. But just one year and three professional fights later, he was already in the UFC, where his 6-foot-5 frame and dynamic quickness set him apart. Gane won his first six UFC fights in less than two years before outclassing and stopping Derrick Lewis at UFC 265 in 2021 to claim the interim heavyweight title. 

But just as it looked as if Gane was ready to own the division for the remainder of the decade, the flaws in his game and lack of experience caught up with him. 

“I started [MMA] really late and everything looked like easy for me,” Gane said. “When you are winning, you don’t have any questions about yourself.”

Gane’s subsequent five fights over the next four years produced nothing but questions, however, as to whether he ever truly was (or could still be) the fighter who so quickly climbed the ranks. 

A 2022 unification title loss to Francis Ngannou was only made worse by the fact that Ngannou was fighting on just one leg after seriously injuring knee ligaments three weeks out from the fight. And even though Gane bounced back with a brutal knockout of journeyman brawler Tai Tuivasa eight months later, he was visibly rocked during the fight and unnecessarily lured into a wild brawl. 

The low moment for Gane came in March 2023 when Jones, who was moving up to heavyweight following a three-year layoff, needed just over two minutes to easily take Gane down and submit him without any form of resistance at all. 

“My first loss against Ngannou, some people thought I won and it was very close, [so there was] not too much introspection,” Gane said. “But then, when you lose to Jon Jones, you stop everything and you turn off your phone and you talk with your coach and your family because it’s really hard at first. I’m a competitor and it’s really hard to lose like that. And the social media [reaction] was really hard, also. You have to be more focused on yourself.”

Just six months after the Jones defeat, Gane bounced back in a major way by finishing a rising Serghei Spivac in less than two rounds to delight his home crowd in Paris. But even the momentum from that win was short lived as Gane, in his most recent fight, went on to claim a split-decision win last December in a rematch against Alexander Volkov that just about everyone (including outspoken UFC CEO Dana White) disagreed with and thought Gane had lost.

“I was really frustrated during this fight because I did a really good camp,” Gane said. “[But] unfortunately, I broke my foot in like the very first minute. I was very frustrated, even though I won. It was a bad sensation but I had to calm myself and enjoy it and not be too hard on myself.”

While some might assume Gane has nothing to lose against Aspinall given all of his setbacks, it’s difficult to imagine UFC giving “Bon Gamin” another shot at the undisputed title should he lose at the highest level for the third time in three years. Luckily for Gane, the constant negativity from the media regarding his chances has only fueled his resolve to work harder, particularly on his ground game. 

“People like to say I am not good in my ground game but I lost just one time [because of it] and it was against Jon Jones,” Gane said. “Trust me, I did this mistake [once] but I won’t do this mistake again. I have more wins [because of] my ground game than losses. People like to underestimate me on my ground game but I was never, never afraid to go to the ground.”

While the assumption from many is that Gane needs to avoid Aspinall’s quick and powerful hands for as long as he can in order to extend the fight into the later rounds, Gane disagrees that it’s the only way he can win. 

“I can do both,” Gane said. “I can fight him like a dog in the very first round and I also can do [it] over five rounds. I’m not going to explain my tactic or gameplan but I can do both. Whatever is going to happen, I’m going to present and I’m ready for it. [Aspinall] is a very good fighter but me too, me too.”

With a decorated background in team sports like soccer and basketball, Gane remains one of the most athletic and fit fighters on the UFC roster. And considering that heavyweights age later than other divisions, and the fact that Gane is only seven years into taking up the sport of MMA to begin with, the idea that he could continue to improve by leaps and bounds behind the scenes, even with a few high-profile losses sprinkled in between, isn’t out of the question. 

It may be now or never for his title hopes given his recent history but Gane appears poised to prove his detractors wrong by finally fulfilling his potential on the highest level. 

“For me, if I get this win, I’m going to be really grateful about my life and the experience,” Gane said. “I think this is the way you have to do to be a real champion. I have a lot of experience and I learned a lot during my disappointment against Jon Jones and we have fixed it. We are really prepared for this fight in every department, mentally and physically. That’s why I am really happy for this fight.”