There hasn't been a UFC heavyweight title fight in quite some time and the main reason for that is that the title holder wouldn't fight anyone. Jon Jones was considered the "real" champion after defeating Ciryl Gane in just 2 minutes even though Tom Aspinall was willing to fight Jones any place any time, but Jones has always been problematic calling the fight a "waste of his time" and other condescending things. He would laugh whenever anyone suggested that Jones was afraid to lose to Aspinall, but just simply wouldn't sign a contract to fight him.
Eventually Jones let the chapionship go and at that point Tom Aspinall finally became the true champion of the division, although many still want him tested further before they can get fully behind him. But therein lies the problem with the current heavyweight division: There's nobody to fight.
Aspinall to me has proven his worth, but I will readily admit that much of this is because there simply isn't a great depth of talent at heavyweight in UFC at the moment, and the last 3 opponents of his were eliminated in around a minute. His second match vs Curtis Blaydes was meant to be his toughest prospect yet and this took place in July of 2024, Tom KO'd him in exactly 1 minute. This seems like a terrible outcome for Blaydes, who has been a recognizable face having punching bag for UFC for year, but when you consider that their first matchup back in 2022 had the same result but only too 15 SECONDS to have the same result, Blaydes did considerably better, I guess.
Ciryl Gane, to me, is the most boring fighter in the UFC heavyweight ranks right now and perhaps of all time. He has an impressive physique but his fight style is a lot like the French military's in that he is always retreating.
Dana White was pushing Gane to the top years ago because of two reasons: UFC had just become legal, finally, in France, and because they desperately needed some talent in heavyweight back then as well. Honestly, the Heavyweight division hasn't been very good since the days of Brock Lesnar and folks, that was a WHILE ago.
But the upcoming fight between Gane and current champion Tom Aspinall looks kind of like "well, this is the best we can do with the roster we have, sorry!" but it also has a very dangerous potential outcome. Gane's style is counterproductive to victory against most types of opponents at a high level, but he still has tree-trunk arms and a vicious punch and if by some miracle he connects with one or two of these come to meet Aspinall's face on Oct 25th, the big Frenchman could end up being world champion. This is extremely unlikely to happen, but it could and this would be disastrous for the UFC's legitimacy.
src this sort of leaning in, barely in range of you, jabby jab sort of crap is extremely common in Gane's offense, if he even bothers to have any
If Gane ends up somehow getting the strop in late October, the whole MMA world is going to breathe a collective groan about it. Gane has fought for the title twice already and lost both of those encounters. The first, which was a streamlined, big-guy-to-the-top expressway fight saw Gane against Ngannou and that went the distance for two reasons. Ngannou, who I believe is the best heavyweight champion the UFC has ever seen, was already one foot out the door as far as having anything to do with UFC was concerned. He was also fighting an opponent whose only gear was "reverse" and jesus, was that a boring fight to watch.
They tried to spin this as a showcase of Ngannou's wrestling pedigree and his strong ground game, but if you saw the fight you know that Francis had no choice but to try to take it to the ground because Ciryl Gane all-but-refused to engage in stand up.
The second time Gane fought for championship gold was vs. Jon Jones and that was over in just more than 2 minutes. Gane failed to mount even an ounce of offense and was submitted on the first attempt at doing so.
Nobody wants Gane as champion because what would that say if the new "best in the world" had been easily dispatched by two previous champions.
Honestly, this fight is kind of a no-win situation for Tom Aspinall unless he can get his hands on him really early. Gane is expected to lose and lose badly. But for Tom, if he fails to do everyone 100% correctly, it will reflect negatively on his championship as well, even when he wins. It's been over a year since he last fought... a lot can change in that time.
My hope is that Tom ends it quickly and we can close the door on Gane hopefully. The problem remains though that Gane is the number 1 contender in the world because there is just a genuine lack of talent in the heavyweight category of MMA. Looking at the top 10 doesn't exactly fill us with enthusiasm for who Tom could face next if and when he dispatches Gane.
The proof will be in the puddin' as they say and tit all goes down on Oct 25, 2025.