Ciryl Gane has responded to Tom Aspinall’s comments about not taking fights against the top heavyweights, including Sergei Pavlovich, Curtis Blaydes, and Aspinall himself.
Ciryl Gane Denies Ducking Accusations
Ranked number two in the heavyweight division, Gane denied any form of ‘ducking’ fights against Pavlovich, Blaydes, and Aspinall after releasing a statement of his own via an X post.
The post was produced as a result of the current interim heavyweight champion of the UFC featuring on The MMA Hour last night.
On the show, Aspinall said: “He’s dismissed me on multiple occasions, and I’m not the first guy he’s dismissed. I’m not the first guy that he’s ducked. It’s out there for people to see. The reason that I got the Pavlovich fight is because Ciryl didn’t want it.
“He ducked Pavlovich. He then ducked Curtis Blaydes. Curtis Blaydes has been on record saying that. I asked for him years ago. He didn’t want it then. Then I asked for him in Paris. They flew me over; we tried to make that fight. He didn’t want it then, and we’ll see what the UFC wants to do.”
Aspinall V Gane In September?
Alongside dismissing Aspinall’s claims, the Frenchman said he ‘will’ see the interim champion in September. That level of confidence only implies that talks have begun on which heavyweight will get the next shot at gold, despite many touting a Blaydes rematch for the alleged UK pay-per-view event.
When the opportunity arose for Gane to become the heavyweight champion last year, it was unfortunate that Jon Jones was standing across from him. After being submitted in two minutes and four seconds of the first round, the 33-year-old made his comeback against Serghei Spivac six months later and impressed with a knockout victory.
Although he is appreciated as a threat, Aspinall has made his feelings known in the past that Gane should fight Jailton Almeida first, due to refusing a fight with the Brit in the past.
Now that Almeida is coming off a knockout loss against Blaydes last month, justifying a fight between Gane and the Brazilian seems a little more difficult now.
All while the whole division is on standby awaiting Jones to make his first title defence, ‘Bon Gamin’ looks to regain the interim title that he held back in 2021 when he knocked out Derrick Lewis.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
