A fight that has been talked about for years arrives at UFC 321, a battle between heavyweights of a new breed including champion Tom Aspinall and former interim champion Ciryl Gane – and yet somehow it’s not the fight anyone wanted.
What state MMA and the UFC will be in as 2025 and the ESPN era come to an end.
Two years ago, fans of Aspinall vs. Gane has been drooling. But after both Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones handled Gane with apparent ease, the French heavyweight saw some of the shine wear off. Of course, a win over Aspinall, who was promoted to undisputed champion status when Jones retired earlier this year, would put him back in the spotlight. But in the meantime, fans are still talking wistfully about a match between Aspinall and Jones (or, alternatively, Jones and Alex Pereira).
Still, there’s no doubt that two of the best heavyweights in the world will compete in the main event of UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi this Saturday. And should Aspinall claim victory, as he has so consistently done, his stock will rise much more. Enough to distract Jones from the “Poatan” match? Time will tell.
The co-main event of UFC 321 received a similar reaction from the MMA fanbase. A rematch between Virna Jandiroba and Mackenzie Dern, this time with strawweight gold on the line. The only problem is that neither woman actually holds that title. Instead, Weili Zhang chose to vacate the strawweight championship. She will be aiming for a second flyweight title when she faces Valentina Shevchenko next month.
The key players from Saturday’s PPV will be in attendance on Thursday for the UFC 321 press conference, starting at 9:00 AM ET, 6:00 AM PT.
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