Aspinall aims to stay on top after long road to UFC summit

England’s Tom Aspinall enters UFC 321 at Etihad Arena, Yas Island, in Abu Dhabi on Saturday as a big favourite to retain the heavyweight title, and if he beats French challenger Ciryl Gane, it will be the first time he exits the cage with the undisputed belt around his waist.

The 32-year-old ascended to the top of the division in unusual circumstances, capturing and defending the interim UFC heavyweight title before being elevated to undisputed champion following American incumbent Jon Jones’ abrupt retirement in June.

“It doesn’t really bother me too much — I already felt like the champion anyway,” Aspinall said of his rise to the summit before describing his ideal fight against Gane in Abu Dhabi.

“If I had the option, if you’re going to ask me what will my ideal fight be, it would be me not being hit at all, hitting the other guy, and the referee pulling me off.”

Widely considered one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time, Jones retired without facing Aspinall. With many of the division’s top contenders already defeated by the English fighter, the path appears clear for a long reign.

However, Aspinall acknowledged the unpredictability of the heavyweight class, where title reigns can end abruptly due to the power of opponents.

“Especially for heavyweights, it’s a lot easier to knock someone out at 240, 250, 260 pounds than it is at 145 pounds, for example, so, yeah, it’s definitely a lot harder (to remain champion),” he explained.

“The idea is at heavyweight, it’s pretty simple rules — try not to let him hit you, try not to let him get on top of you. They’re the two golden rules at heavyweight.”

Having developed his fighting style with his coach and father Andy, Aspinall is regarded as a prototype modern UFC heavyweight.

An excellent boxer and a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt, he stands 6ft 5 inches (1.96 metres) tall and weighed in for Saturday’s fight at 255 pounds (115.66kg). His average fight time in the UFC of just over two minutes underscores his ruthless finishing ability.

He enters the fray against Gane with the same plan he always has - take control of the fight early on, and whatever you do, don’t get stuck on the bottom.

“If I can win every single fight for the rest of my career in the first 10 seconds, I absolutely will. That being said, I’m not going to go in there desperate and looking for it. I’m always prepared for five rounds,” he said.

“I know what it’s like (to be on the bottom), it’s miserable. Like, I’ve spent hours and hours under big guys in the training room, and it’s not very fun, so I’ll try and avoid that at all costs if I can.”

Aspinall is odds-on favourite to beat Gane in the fight.

“If I could get the guy exhausted and I end up on top of him, I think that’s probably the ultimate position, but I’m just as comfortable standing as well,” he said. “I’m always ready for five rounds. So if it needs to go longer, it will go longer.”

Gane gets his third crack at winning the undisputed heavyweight title after failed attempts against Jones at UFC 285 and former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou at UFC 270. Recognising it could be his last opportunity, the 35-year-old Frenchman promises a far different showing come fight night.

“Everybody knows the strengths of Tom Aspinall,” Gane said. “But everybody knows my strengths, so we will see this Saturday who’s gonna manage to do well in this situation.”

The co-headliner delivers a rematch for the vacant UFC strawweight title as Virna Jandiroba runs it back against Mackenzie Dern.

The fight was booked after the promotion opted to finally make a super fight between Valentina Shevchenko (25-4-1 MMA) and Weili Zhang (26-3 MMA) for Shevchenko’s flyweight title, which is set to take place next month at Madison Square Garden as part of UFC 322.

Both Brazilians say they are excited to face each other, knowing the stakes have been raised with a title on the line. Dern (15-5 MMA) won the first fight against Jandiroba (22-3 MMA) by unanimous decision in December 2020. Neither has owned a UFC title belt.

“It’s possible for me to beat her because I’ve done it once,” Dern said. “We’re completely different fighters nowadays. She went on this amazing win streak after I broke my nose.

So, I went through adversity in that fight and came (out) strong, so that’s just kind of what I took (from) not just that fight, but to all my fights after that just to see what you can get through and keep pulling through.”