Tom Aspinall. UFC 321. This is your moment.<\/p>\n
Even when Jon Jones was parading around as the \u201cundisputed\u201d champion, his inactivity and insistence on defending the title against an aged and even more inactive Stipe Miocic left the door open for Aspinall to be considered the true heavyweight king after he defeated Sergei Pavlovich for an interim belt at UFC 295 (a bout that was put together due to Jones-Miocic being postponed). Our rankings panel at MMA Fighting was quick to embrace Aspinall as the true No. 1 in his division, but it wasn\u2019t until Jones retired this past June that the UFC officially followed suit.<\/p>\n
Now, Aspinall finally bears the undisputed mantle and he has to prove once again he deserves it when he takes on Ciryl Gane in Saturday\u2019s main event. Gane, also a former interim champion, has twice had the chance to claim sole ownership of the UFC heavyweight title and twice he has fallen short. He has nothing to lose and would delight at least one fight fan to no end<\/a> if he upsets Aspinall.<\/p>\n In the UFC 321 co-main event, Virna Jandiroba and Mackenzie Dern battle in a rematch to become the next strawweight champion. Pound-for-pound great Zhang Weili left the division to take on flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 322, giving two top contenders the opportunity to join the hallowed list of UFC titleholders. Will it be the streaking Jandiroba or the perpetually promising Dern that ends their long-awaited hunt for gold?<\/p>\n Also on the main card, Umar Nurmagomedov and Mario Bautista clash in a potential No. 1 bantamweight contender bout, Alexander Volkov and Jailton Almeida do the same at heavyweight, and light heavyweight veteran Aleksandar Rakic looks to break a slump when he faces the undefeated Azamat Murzakanov.<\/p>\n Where: Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi<\/p>\n When: Saturday, Oct. 25. The eight-fight early preliminary card begins at 10 a.m. ET on ESPN+, Disney+, and FX. The five-fight main card begins at 2 p.m. ET exclusively on ESPN+ pay-per-view.<\/p>\n (Numbers in parentheses indicate standing in the MMA Fight<\/a>i<\/a>ng Global Rankings<\/a> and Pound-for-Pound Rankings<\/a>)<\/p>\n Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane<\/p>\n To coin a clich\u00e9, this is Tom Aspinall\u2019s fight to lose.<\/p>\n Aspinall and Ciryl Gane have been in each other\u2019s orbit for some time, well before Aspinall claimed any form of UFC title. And you know what I thought of the matchup back then? Aspinall is going to tackle Gane and submit him or beat him with ground-and-pound. That prediction has not changed.<\/p>\n Credit to Gane, who has clearly worked to level up his grappling as evidenced in his controversial split decision win over Alexander Volkov. It\u2019s still an imperfect set of tools, but he\u2019s at least trying to avoid getting bulldozed again like when he fought Jon Jones. That said, I can\u2019t imagine he\u2019s reached the point where his wrestling defense is enough to stop Aspinall.<\/p>\n Even taking into account Gane\u2019s superb athleticism and agility, Aspinall can match him in that department, at least enough to cut off the cage and find angles to latch on to Gane and put him on the mat. From there, it will be just like the Jones fight. Maybe worse.<\/p>\n Puncher\u2019s chance and all that, and Gane has a knack for making life difficult for his opponents (again, anyone not named Jon Jones), but even if it takes a couple of rounds or three for Aspinall to catch him, he\u2019s going to catch him. Then it\u2019s over.<\/p>\n Virna Jandiroba vs. Mackenzie Dern<\/p>\n Rematches can often be drastically different from the first encounter and given that Virna Jandiroba and Mackenzie Dern\u2019s first fight was almost five years ago, there\u2019s reason to believe that\u2019s likely the case with Saturday\u2019s co-main event. I\u2019m not convinced.<\/p>\n Back at UFC 256, Jandiroba and Dern competed primarily on the feet as their extensive grappling pedigrees canceled each other out. I expect the same here, because even though Jandiroba is far superior at getting takedowns, Dern has no issue fighting off of her back and I\u2019ll be amazed if Jandiroba can out-muscle her on the mat. Quite clearly, Dern is in the best shape of her life, and she already had a considerable athleticism advantage over Jandiroba the first time.<\/p>\n So there will be plenty of striking in this one, as well as some grueling sequences with the fighters pressed against the fence and jockeying for position. Takedowns will come and I look forward to some exquisite scrambles, but neither fighter should be able to submit the other. I mean, can you imagine?<\/p>\n So give me Dern in a competitive standup contest, with her speed and power allowing her to win the majority of the exchanges and\u2026<\/p>\n Mackenzie Dern is about to become a UFC champion???<\/p>\n Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Mario Bautista<\/p>\n Full disclosure (and this is no secret to anyone who\u2019s kept up with my takes): I\u2019m an Umar Nurmagomedov backer all the way. I picked him to beat Merab Dvalishvili (wrong!) and I\u2019ll pick him to beat Merab Dvalishvili again if they rematch (we\u2019ll see!).<\/p>\n So how can I pick against him here?<\/p>\n Truthfully, were it not for my dogged belief in Nurmagomedov, I\u2019d be nervous for him. Nitpick Mario Bautista\u2019s eight-fight win streak all you want, the man finds a way to win fights. That sounds simplistic, but when we\u2019re talking about the often finicky judges\u2019 scorecards, that\u2019s an actual skill. An art, even.<\/p>\n