Epic Showdown: Aspinall vs. Gane Headline Must-Watch Fight Card Event

This weekend marks the second UFC pay-per-view event of October, promising an exhilarating lineup of fights. Headlining UFC 321 is a thrilling heavyweight title bout between current champion Tom Aspinall and former interim champion Ciryl Gane. The action unfolds on Saturday, October 25, at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. In an exciting co-main event, the card also features a battle for the vacant women’s strawweight title. Here’s a closer look at the fight card for UFC 321: Aspinall vs. Gane.

UFC 321 features an early start to accommodate its international location. The preliminaries are set to commence at 10:00 a.m. ET, followed by the main pay-per-view segment beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET. Fight fans can catch the prelims streaming on ESPN+, with the main card available through ESPN+ PPV.

ForbesUFC 321 Main Event: Tom Aspinall Vs. Ciryl Gane Opening Betting OddsBy Trent Reinsmith

The lineup for UFC 321 is as follows:
Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane – UFC Heavyweight Title Fight
Virna Jandiroba vs. Mackenzie Dern – Vacant UFC Women’s Strawweight Title Fight
Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Mario Bautista – Bantamweight Bout
Alexander Volkov vs. Jailton Almeida – Heavyweight Clash
Aleksandar Rakić vs. Azamat Murzakanov – Light Heavyweight Match

UFC 321: Aspinall Vs. Gane PPV Card

Additional matchups include:
Nasrat Haqparast vs. Quillan Salkilld – Lightweight
Ikram Aliskerov vs. JunYong Park – Middleweight
Ľudovít Klein vs. Mateusz Rębecki – Lightweight
Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady vs. Matheus Camilo – Lightweight
Valter Walker vs. Louie Sutherland – Heavyweight
Nathaniel Wood vs. Jose Miguel Delgado – Featherweight
Hamdy Abdelwahab vs. Chris Barnett – Heavyweight
Azat Maksum vs. Mitch Raposo – Flyweight
Jaqueline Amorim vs. Mizuki Inoue – Strawweight

UFC 321: Aspinall Vs. Gane Preliminary Card

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UFC 321 Fight Card Main Event: Tom Aspinall Vs. Ciryl Gane

Tom Aspinall (15-3) had a 7-2 professional MMA record when the UFC inked him to a deal in 2020. Aspinall made his promotional debut in July 2020 with a 45-second knockout win over Jake Collier. The win earned the then 27-year-old his first “Performance of the Night” bonus.

A knockout win over Alan Baudot followed in October of that year. Aspinall made it three stoppages in a row in February 2021 when he tapped Andrei Arlovski in the second round of their matchup, a card that was headlined by Curtis Blaydes losing to Derrick Lewis by second-round KO.

Aspinall’s win over Arlovski broke him into the rankings at No. 13. First-round stoppage wins over Serghei Spivac (TKO) and Alexander Volkov (submission) followed the Arlovski triumph.

The Blaydes matchup was next on Aspinall’s schedule. The injury he suffered in that contest kept him out of action until July 2023 when he stepped into the Octagon to face Marcin Tybura. Aspinall showed no hesitation or ill effects from his knee injury, as he dispatched Tybura in 73 seconds, winning the fight by TKO.

Then, with UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones injured and out of his scheduled UFC 295 matchup against Stipe Miocic, the UFC tapped Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich to face off for the interim heavyweight title at UFC 295. Aspinall won the bout, and the title, with a 69-second knockout.

Aspinall defended the interim crown once, defeating Curtis Blaydes via knockout at the 1:00 mark of Round 1 of their UFC 304 matchup.

Now 32, Aspinall has seven first-round stoppage wins and one second-round stoppage victory under the UFC banner. He has never gone past 1:09 of the second round in UFC action. Aspinall has earned seven “Performance of the Night” bonuses during his UFC run. The only win he has where he failed to pick up a post-fight bonus was his win over Baudot in 2020.

Ciryl Gane (13-2) is the No. 1 fighter in the official UFC heavyweight rankings. The 35-year-old French competitor has only lost in UFC title fights, falling to Francis Ngannou by decision in 2022 for the undisputed title, and losing to Jon Jones via submission in 2023 for the vacant belt. Gane did capture the interim heavyweight belt in 2021 with a knockout of Derrick Lewis.

Gane debuted with the UFC in 2019 following a Muay Thai career. He was 3-0 in MMA when he first fought inside the Octagon. Gane went 7-0 to begin his UFC career. His first loss came in a title unification bout against Ngannou.

Gane enters UFC 321 on a two-fight winning streak. He defeated Serghei Spivac by TKO in September 2023. In his most recent trip to the Octagon, Gane bested Alexander Volkov via decision at UFC 310.

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Tom Aspinall Named UFC Heavyweight Champ

In June, then-UFC heavyweight champ Jon Jones retired. The UFC named Aspinall the undisputed champion at that time.

“Jon Jones called us last night and retired. Jon Jones is officially retired. Tom Aspinall is the heavyweight champion of the UFC,” White said during the post-fight press conference following the UFC Baku fight card.

“I obviously feel bad for Tom that he lost all that time and money, but we’ll make it up to him,” White added. “Tom Aspinall is a good guy. He’s been incredible through this whole process that we’ve gone through. He’s been willing to do anything – fight him anywhere at any time and do this. Now he’s like, ‘I’ll fight anybody. Tell me who and I’ll fight him.’ Aspinall has been great. He’s going to be a great heavyweight champion for us and I’m excited to work with him.”

“International Fight Week starts Monday in Las Vegas,” White continued. “Tom will be in Vegas all week with us, so we’ll get together with him and figure out what’s next.”

We will have more on UFC 321 as fight night nears.