Aspinall set for first defence as undisputed Heavyweight Champion

Tom Aspinall will make his first defence as Undisputed Heavyweight Champion when he faces Ciryl Gane in the main event of UFC 321, set for the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on the evening of Saturday 25 October 2025.

Aspinall (15-3) became the Interim Heavyweight Champion in November 2023 when he defeated Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295, and then defended the belt at UFC 304 in July last year with a triumph over Curtis Blaydes.

The 32-year-old Englishman was hoping to have a bout with Jon Jones to become Undisputed Champion, but was promoted to that status without a fight when the latter’s retirement was announced back in June.

Aspinall will therefore make his first defence as Undisputed Champion against Ciryl Gane (13-2), who comes into the fight on a two-match winning streak, having beaten Serhei Spivac and Alexander Volkov in his last two trips to the Octagon.

However, the 35-year-old Frenchman is seen as something of an underwhelming challenger, having twice fallen short in title matches to Francis Ngannou (in January 2022) and Jones (March 2023).

Aspinall, though, is not underestimating Gane: “It’s heavyweight MMA, anybody can beat anybody, so you just never know. As far as name value, yeah, it’s probably not as good now as it’s been before.

“But I think the level of the guys is really good, actually. There’s a few new signings coming in, and I think it’s gonna be an exciting few years for the heavyweight division.”

In the co-main event, Virna Jandiroba (22-3) and Mackenzie Dern (15-5) will fight for the vacant Women’s Strawweight Championship. The belt was vacated by Zhang Weili (who is expected to move up to the flyweight category), allowing Jandiroba and Dern to rematch with the title on the line. They first faced off at UFC 256 in late 2020, with Dern claiming a unanimous decision win.

The rest of the main card features Alexander Volkov v Jailton Almeida in the heavyweight division; Umar Nurmagomedov faces Mario Bautista in a bantamweight clash; and a light heavyweight bout pits Aleksandar Rakic against Azamat Murzakanov.

UFC 321 – Main card

- Main event: Heavyweight Championship: Tom Aspinall v Ciryl Gane

- Co-main event: Vacant Women’s Strawweight Championship: Virna Jandiroba v Mackenzie Dern

- Heavyweight: Alexander Volkov v Jailton Almeida

- Bantamweight: Umar Nurmagomedov v Mario Bautista

- Light heavyweight: Aleksandar Rakic v Azamat Murzakanov