Tom Aspinall shook off the pressure in a heavyweight defense against Cyril Gane at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi.
The UFC returns to Abu Dhabi on Saturday for a championship doubleheader as headliner UFC 321. In the main event, Tom Aspinall will make his first defense of the UFC heavyweight title against former interim champion Cyril Gane.
ESPN reported that Aspinall (15-3 MMA) was promoted to undisputed UFC heavyweight champion this summer after Jon Jones (28-1, No. 1 MMA) abruptly retired while negotiations for the Aspinall fight broke down and he ultimately dropped charges stemming from a February car crash.
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Aspinall, a native of Salford, England, told reporters Thursday that he felt no pressure to take on Gane (13-2 mixed martial arts) as he seeks to write his own story and build a legacy at heavyweight.
“I’m happy that the game will proceed completely organically,” Aspinall said. “Whatever is available, I will accept it and do everything in my power to achieve the finish.”
Gane is making his third attempt at winning the undisputed heavyweight title, coming up short against Jones at UFC 285 and former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou (18-3 MMA) at UFC 270. Aware that this could be his last chance, the 35-year-old Frenchman promises to deliver a different performance on match night.
“Everyone knows how strong Tom Aspinall is,” Gane said. “But everyone knows my strengths, so we’ll see this Saturday who will do better in this situation.”
The co-headliner will be Vilna Jandilova facing Mackenzie Dern in a rematch for the vacant UFC strawweight title. The bout was booked after the promotion ultimately opted for a superfight between Valentina Shevchenko (25-4-1 MMA) and Weili Zhang (26-3 MMA) for Shevchenko’s flyweight title, scheduled to take place next month at Madison Square Garden as part of UFC 322.
Both Brazilians said they were excited to meet, knowing the stakes are higher with the title on the line. Dern (15-5 MMA) won his first fight against Jandiroba (22-3 MMA) by unanimous decision in December 2020. Neither man owns a UFC title belt.
“I can beat her because I’ve done it once,” Dern said. “We’re completely different fighters now. After I broke my nose, she went on an amazing winning streak. So I came out stronger through the adversity in that fight. That’s what I took into not just that fight, but every fight after that. Just to see what I could get through and keep winning.”
Jandilova learned a lot from her first fight with Dern, calling it “part of my history,” but admits that opportunities for redemption don’t come often.
“It’s a rematch that I’ve wanted to have for a long time,” Jandirova said through an interpreter. “This is the best thing. I get my revenge for the title fight. And I asked the universe and he gave me the best (opportunity).”
Although he did not give a prediction, Jandirova is confident that the rematch will play out differently.
“The biggest lesson is to believe in yourself,” Jandirova said.
The event will feature a 13-fight card, with the five-fight main card starting at 2pm ET/11am PT at Etihad Arena.
Below is the order of matches and is subject to change.
UFC 321 main card
Tom Aspinall (c) vs Cyril Gane, UFC heavyweight title Vilna Jandirova vs Mackenzie Dern, vacant UFC strawweight title Umar Nurmagomedov vs Mario Bautista, bantamweight Alexander Volkov vs Jailton Almeida, heavyweight Aleksandar Rakic vs Azamat Murzakanov, light heavyweight
