Tom Aspinall said he is ready to meet Ciryl Gane again in Paris in September, turning the next UFC heavyweight title fight into a direct follow-up to a bout that ended without a result. He made the point plainly: “Paris in September? I’ll do that,” and added, “I’ll go to Paris. Let me know. I’ll be there.”
That matters now because the timing follows Ciryl Gane’s win over Alex Pereira at UFC Freedom 250, where Gane took the interim heavyweight title with a second-round stoppage. The result ended Pereira’s hopes of becoming the UFC’s first three-division champion and gave the heavyweight picture a clearer shape, even if the undisputed fight Aspinall wants has not yet been fixed to a specific day in September.
Aspinall’s willingness to travel is striking because his first meeting with Gane in Abu Dhabi in October was ruled a no contest after repeated eye pokes from Gane. Aspinall later underwent surgery in February after damage to both eyes, then said in May that he was back in non-contact training. He had every reason to be cautious. Instead, he has moved quickly toward another meeting, and his comments show he is not treating the first fight as a closed chapter.
He also did not hide his view of what happened in Gane’s win over Pereira. Aspinall said the elbows “look a bit illegal,” then added, “They look very illegal.” He followed that with, “What is going on?” and later said, “He looked good. I have to watch that again. Looked like there was a lot of illegal elbows going on. Illegal punches but generally he looked good.” Herb Dean did not call a foul, and the fight kept going until the second-round stoppage.
So the path is set, but not fully sealed. Aspinall has said yes to Paris in September, yet the exact date has not been announced. That leaves one question in the foreground: whether the UFC turns his public commitment into a signed title fight, or lets the heavyweight picture drift after Gane’s latest win and Aspinall’s return from injury.
