UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall is weighing his options for his next fight, with a superfight against light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and a revenge bout against Ciryl Gane both on the table. Aspinall previously lost to Gane before capturing the interim heavyweight title, adding extra motivation to a potential rematch.
UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall has made clear he is considering two distinct paths for his next outing, with a cross-divisional superfight against light heavyweight king Alex Pereira and a rematch against Ciryl Gane both emerging as serious possibilities.
Aspinall, 33, holds a 15-3 record and carries the UFC heavyweight title into this decision. The Manchester-born fighter out of Team Kaobon stands six-foot-five with a 78-inch reach and ranks sixth on the pound-for-pound list. His output is extraordinary even by championship standards — he lands 7.63 significant strikes per minute at a 67 percent accuracy rate, while also averaging 2.62 takedowns per 15 minutes. The Gane fight looms large because it sits as one of those three losses on his record, giving a potential rematch a revenge-fight dimension that would resonate well beyond a standard title defense.
Gane, nicknamed Bon Gamin, enters the picture ranked second in the heavyweight division at 36 years old. The Frenchman is 14-2 and brings a distinctive technical striking game, landing 5.29 significant strikes per minute at 61 percent accuracy. At six-foot-four with an 81-inch reach — the longest of the three fighters discussed here — Gane offers a tricky, movement-based style that clearly gave Aspinall trouble in their prior meeting.
Pereira, 38, holds a 13-4 record and is the reigning light heavyweight champion out of Brazil. Standing six-foot-four with a 79-inch reach, he lands 5.16 significant strikes per minute at 62 percent accuracy. A move to heavyweight for a superfight would be the more historically unusual option and would pit two current UFC champions against each other across divisional lines.
Why it matters
- A win over Gane would allow Aspinall to avenge his only notable MMA defeat and cement his heavyweight reign
- A Pereira superfight would place Aspinall in rare two-division champion territory
- Both options carry significant pound-for-pound ranking implications for the winner
- The stylistic contrast between the two matchups is stark: Gane offers a technical rematch, Pereira a power-versus-power collision
