Tom Aspinall definitely rates Ciryl Gane highly as a fighter ahead of their clash this weekend, and that came across during a recent media appearance he did, where he favoured ‘Bon Gamin’ over multiple former UFC champs. The reigning UFC heavyweight champion took part in a segment for TNT Sports as part of their ‘Winner Stays On’ segment with Aspinall picking victors in fantasy fights.

The name Brock Lesnar was mentioned early on, with the UK-based divisional kingpin picking Lesnar to defeat Andrei Arlovski and Don Frye before the former UFC heavyweight champion was described as someone who would lose to Gane. After Lesnar was taken out of the game, Aspinall also favoured Gane to beat another former titleholder in the UFC’s heavyweight ranks.

That fighter in question was Fabricio Werdum, and the game even extended to some former light heavyweight champion options. Aspinall picked Gane to best former 205-pound kingpins like Chuck Liddell, Rashad Evans, and Quinton ‘Rampage Jackson, before ultimately picking Randy Couture over Gane in a potential prizefight.

Tom Aspinall is “prepared for a really hard fight” vs. Ciryl Gane

Tom Aspinall clearly thinks highly of Ciryl Gane as a combatant, and that also comes across in how he breaks down the machinations of their matchup, which awaits them on October 25th. It’s not lost on Aspinall that he is a sizable betting favorite heading into Saturday, but he’s not letting it take up a meaningful amount of space in his head.

As he gave an overview of the challenge that awaits him in the coming days, Aspinall said [via MMA Junkie],

“I think there’s this notion with the media and maybe the fans that Ciryl is not very good, which is just complete bullsh*t. I think that he’s really, really good. He’s super talented, he’s been at the top of the division for a number of years, which is not easy to do.”

“He’s been an interim champion himself. He’s obviously had two title shots for the undisputed title, as well, so I think the guy is really good. I’ve took him extremely, extremely seriously. The fact that people expect it to be an easy fight, I don’t read into that at all. I’m prepared for a really hard fight.”