A much-needed Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight title fight is headed to the Middle East.
Newly appointed undisputed Heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall will make his first defense against two-time title challenger and former interim title holder Ciryl Gane on Sat., Oct. 25, 2025, at UFC 321, which goes down inside Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
UFC CEO Dana White announced the news today.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
After more than a year on the sidelines, and countless mind games from former UFC champion Jon Jones, Aspinall (15-3) will finally get back to work.
The 32-year-old fighter from England was last in action against Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304, finishing him in one minute (watch highlights). Before that, he claimed the interim title by knocking out Sergei Pavlovich in 69 seconds inside Madison Square Garden (highlights).
Aspianll holds a 100 percent finish rate with all but one fight (against Andrei Arlovski) ending in the first round.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Gane (13-2) was last in action in the final PPV of 2024, winning a very controversial split decision against Alexander Volkov (details). Prior to that, he stopped Serghei Spivac in his seventh main event at UFC Paris (watch highlights).
UFC 320 will mark Gane’s third attempt at UFC undisputed Heavyweight gold. He lost his last two title fights against Francis Ngannou and Jones (watch highlights).
Two other fights have been announced for UFC 321, including a No. 1 contender Heavyweight fight between Jailton Almeida and the aforementioned Volkov, and Aleksandar Rakic vs. Azamat Murzakanov.
To checkout UFC’s upcoming schedule of events click here.