Tom Aspinall has shared his reaction to the interim UFC Heavyweight Championship fight between Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane.
During the UFC 326 broadcast, the bout between Pereira and Gane was announced. “Poatan” vacated the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship to move up in weight. With Aspinall in recovery mode following double eye surgery, UFC felt an interim title was needed for its June 14 White House card.
Aspinall posted a reaction video on his YouTube channel. The reigning heavyweight titleholder isn’t surprised that the bout was made (via MMAJunkie).
“I mean, who else is going to fight? The division’s on its ass,” Aspinall said. “There’s not many big fights to make, is there? So they’ve got to do what they’ve got to do.”
Aspinall is hoping to recover quick enough to face the winner of Pereira vs. Gane. He is waiting for clearance from his doctor to return to contact training.
“Obviously, I want to fight the winner of that,” Aspinall said. “Just waiting now to get the green light, the all clear from the doctor to start training properly again. As soon as we can start training properly again, full contact in the gym, we will be getting a fight date booked to fight the winner. Just waiting for the clearance to be medically cleared, and then we go.
“As soon as the doctor clears me, we’ll let the UFC know and we’ll be looking to book a fight soon as possible.”
Aspinall’s eye issues stem from Gane’s accidental foul during their UFC 321 fight. Aspinall was poked in both eyes and could not continue. As a result, the bout was ruled a no contest and Aspinall hasn’t competed since.
Who are you predicting will win the UFC Freedom 250 clash between Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane? Drop your prediction in the comments below.