Aspinall to defend undisputed title against Gane

Britain's Tom Aspinall will make the first defence of his undisputed heavyweight title against France's Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi on 25 October.

Aspinall, 32, was upgraded to champion of the division last month when former title holder Jon Jones retired and vacated his belt.

Aspinall spent 19 months as interim champion but an undisputed title showdown with Jones failed to materialise.

The fight with 35-year-old Gane will come 15 months after Aspinall's last outing, where he defended his interim title against Curtis Blaydes.

In a post confirming the contest with Gane on Instagram, Aspinall wrote "time to remind 'em".

Manchester's Aspinall repeatedly called for an undisputed title fight with Jones after winning the interim belt in November 2023, but the American remained non-committal.

Jones instead defended his belt against fellow countryman Stipe Miocic in November, leaving Aspinall to wait for a potential bout, before retiring seven months later.

Aspinall is Britain's first UFC heavyweight champion and has won eight of his nine fights in the promotion, with his wins all coming via finish.

Gane is a former UFC interim heavyweight champion but has twice suffered defeat fighting for the undisputed title - against Francis Ngannou in 2022, and against Jones the following year.

He last fought against Russia's Alexander Volkov in December, winning by split decision in an unconvincing performance.

Since making his UFC debut in 2019, Gane has won 10 of his 12 bouts.