A fight that has been talked about for years arrives at UFC 321, a battle of new breed heavyweights in champ Tom Aspinall and former interim champion Ciryl Gane— and yet somehow, it’s not the fight anyone wanted.
What a state MMA, and the UFC, is in as 2025 and the ESPN era comes to a close.
Two years ago, Aspinall vs. Gane would have had fans salivating. Yet after both Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones handled Gane with seeming ease, the French heavyweight has seen some of the shine come off. Of course, an upset win over Aspinall, who graduated to undisputed champ status when Jones retired earlier this year, would thrust him right back in the spotlight. Yet in the meantime, fans still talk wistfully of a match-up between Aspinall and Jones (or, alternatively, Jones and Alex Pereira).
Still, there is little question that two of the best heavyweights on the planet will throw down in the main event of UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi this Saturday. And should Aspinall claim victory, as he so consistently has, his stock will rise that much more. Enough to distract Jones from the “Poatan” match-up? Time will tell.
UFC 321’s co-main event was met with a similar response from the MMA fanbase. A rematch between Virna Jandiroba and Mackenzie Dern, this time with strawweight gold on the line. The only problem, neither woman actually holds that title. Instead, Weili Zhang opted to vacate the strawweight championship. She’ll pursue a second belt at flyweight when she faces Valentina Shevchenko next month.
The key players from Saturday’s PPV will be on hand Thursday for the UFC 321 press conference, getting underway at 9AM ET, 6AM PT.
