Ciryl Gane would have finished Tom Aspinall at UFC 321 and will finish things in potential rematch, per Gane training partner
Ciryl Gane was en route to winning UFC gold before the errant eye poke at UFC 321 and would unseat Tom Aspinall if a rematch is booked. This, according to a surging PFL star who gets in work with Gane. The combatant in question is Pouya Rahmani, who battles Karl Williams at PFL Dubai: Nurmagomedov vs. Davis on February 7th.
When referencing his work in the training room with Gane and his thoughts on the heavyweight title clash controversy in October, Rahmani said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“So Ciryl came to Dubai. I help him for his fight with Aspinall and I think if fight goes to second round, he was able to finish Aspinall. He [Gane] again going to come next week to stay with me for his upcoming fight and we are training partners.”
When addressing the notion that a rematch would provide some closure in the wake of the Aspinall vs. Gane no contest verdict, Rahmani stated [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Yeah, this fight [is] going to be something else. The next fight going to be something else, I believe. I believe Ciryl can finish him this time.”
Ciryl Gane and Alex Pereira would be “a good stylistic match-up”, per Tom Aspinall
Ciryl Gane would seemingly be in a prime position for a Tom Aspinall rematch, but with many question marks around when the latter could come back, ‘Poatan’ may have a vacancy to occupy.
With the UFC heavyweight champion on the sidelines due to eye issues that led to surgical intervention, the return timeline for Aspinall is far from defined. Within that context, some have been wondering if former interim champ Gane might get another interim title fight in with someone, such as Alex Pereira, who would seek the unprecedented feat of becoming a titleholder across three UFC weight classes.
Tom Aspinall spoke with Paddy Pimblett recently about this rumoured but unconfirmed Pereira vs. Gane interim title bout on the UK champion’s YouTube channel. When discussing the machinations of that possible matchup after Pimblett mentioned he felt that was a fight that could potentially transpire, Aspinall stated [via MMA Mania],
“It would be a good fight. I think it’s a good stylistic match-up. We need to get back again, don’t we.”
