Tom Aspinall criticizes Ciryl Gane for allegedly avoiding a fight with him to pursue acting, while Gane counters that he has called out Aspinall multiple times and is willing to fight in the future.
Tom Aspinall doesn’t want to hear Ciryl Gane’s excuses.
The two UFC heavyweights have been at odds for years. Recently, tensions escalated when Aspinall claimed Gane declined a chance to challenge for his interim heavyweight title on July 27 at UFC 304. Instead, Gane chose to film a movie. Gane quickly pushed back.
“He only accepts my fights when I cannot,” Gane said during a Twitch stream captured by French outlet La Sueur. “He likes to say that I refuse him, but the truth is I have already called him out on the networks. Now that he is above me in the rankings, he allows himself to say, ‘No, no, no, no.’ No problem, we’ll meet each other soon.”
Aspinall, 31, is set to defend his interim belt against Curtis Blaydes in UFC 304’s co-main event. He bristled at Gane’s words when asked on The MMA Hour.
“I don’t think that’s very accurate,” Aspinall said of Gane’s claims. “And I think what people need to understand is the UFC didn’t want me to fight Curtis. They wanted me to fight Ciryl, and Ciryl didn’t want to."
"I don’t know what’s going on with his schedule," Aspinall continued. "The guy’s living his own life, doing his acting thing. If that makes him happy and that’s what he wants to do, I completely respect it."
"But let’s not act like you wanted to fight me because it isn’t accurate," he added.
"My schedule? My personal schedule? I’m trying to fight people," Aspinall emphasized. "I’m trying to rack up as many wins and get as much money as possible while I’m still fighting."
"I ain’t interested in movies or cruising about on a yacht," he said bluntly. "I’m interested in fighting people."
"So if [Gane said no] because of something else like a movie or whatever—that’s not my problem," Aspinall stated firmly.
"I’m ready to fight," he reiterated. "I want to get in the cage with four-ounce gloves on and see who comes out on top in those next 25 minutes."
"If that doesn’t interest you," he concluded with a shrug, "that’s fine—do whatever you want."
Aspinall is currently MMA Fighting’s No. 1 ranked heavyweight globally and No. 12 pound-for-pound fighter. He boasts a record of 7-1 under the UFC umbrella with destructive stoppage wins over ranked foes like Sergei Pavlovich and Alexander Volkov.
His lone UFC loss came in a premature end against Blaydes due to a knee injury in 2022.
Aspinall has previously accused Gane of turning down multiple fights against top contenders.
“He dismissed me multiple times,” Aspinall told MMA Fighting in April. “I’m not the first guy he ducked.”
"The reason I got the Pavlovich fight [at UFC 295] was because Ciryl didn’t want it," he explained further.
Gane is currently set for a rematch against Alexander Volkov on October 26 at UFC 308.
Considering his history with Gane and facing Blaydes’ force now, Aspinall isn’t wasting time worrying about Gane’s whims anymore.
“What I want for the next few years is simple,” Aspinall said passionately: “Take my shirt off, stick some gloves on—let’s find out who wins.”
“There are millions watching worldwide—let’s find out now,” he declared confidently.
“What [Gane] wants? Go do it—but don’t act like you want this fight right now,” Aspinall concluded with finality: “Maybe we will in the future; if so—I’m ready.”