Tom Aspinall has the backing of a prominent fellow British fighter heading into UFC 321.
Aspinall will attempt to make his first title defense against former title challenger Ciryl Gane in the UFC 321 main event Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. When he looks at the matchup, UFC veteran and former Bellator title challenger Michael Page simply sees Aspinall being too much for Gane and expects the champ to establish himself as king of the heavyweights for years to come.
“I’m a fan of Ciryl Gane, as well. I just feel like Tom Aspinall is the next generation of the same thing we saw the likes of Jon Jones doing in terms of the dominant fashion that he took over his division,” Page told TNT Sports. “I feel like the same thing is going to happen with Tom Aspinall. That style at heavyweight is unseen. Ciryl Gane has a little bit of a bounce to him, as well. I just don’t think he’s got the same snap and power that Tom Aspinall has, as well as the ground game, although you probably won’t see it in this fight. I feel like he could get a knockout in this fight.”
Aspinall, 32, was promoted to undisputed UFC heavyweight champion in June after Jon Jones relinquished the belt. Aspinall spent 19 months as interim champ after claiming the belt with a first-round knockout of Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295. With Jones’ future unclear, Aspinall then defended his interim belt with a first-round knockout of Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304.
It was widely expected that Jones and Aspinall would meet in a highly anticipated title unification bout, which UFC CEO Dana White “guaranteed” would happen this year, but it never materialized.
It’ll be interesting to see if Aspinall can top Jones’ performance against Gane. In March 2023, Jones submitted Gane in 2:03 of the first round to claim the heavyweight title vacated by Francis Ngannou.
