Ciryl Gane’s win over Alex Pereira at the UFC White House card has pushed him back into the title picture, and Michael Bisping believes the rematch with Tom Aspinall would be competitive early but still favors the champion because of Aspinall’s wrestling and overall attack. Their first title meeting ended in frustration after an accidental eye poke left Aspinall unable to continue, leaving the heavyweight title picture unfinished rather than settled.
Michael Bisping predicts Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane rematch after White House Win
Gane earned the interim heavyweight belt by beating Pereira at the White House event on June 14, which put him in line for a unification bout with Aspinall, who remains recognized as the UFC heavyweight champion with a second-round TKO and left Washington with interim gold.
The matchup carries history because Aspinall and Gane already shared the cage before the fight was halted by the eye injury. That ending created an obvious case for a second booking, especially now that Gane has again positioned himself as the top challenger at heavyweight.
Bisping’s read is that people should not dismiss Gane based on the first fight or on the way it ended. He pointed to the early action as evidence that the contest was competitive, speaking with Casino, he said, “We’ve already seen Ciryl and Tom for three-quarters of a round and it was a compelling fight.”
He also backed Aspinall’s recovery from the eye issue and pushed back on the idea that the champion will return compromised. In Bisping’s words, “He was doing okay. It was a competitive fight, so I think he’s going to be fine. I came back with one eye and won the world title. He had a bad eye poke, and he’s had a lot of time away, but I think he will be just fine.”
Where Bisping appears to lean toward Aspinall is in the phase of the fight that has defined many heavyweight matchups against Gane: grappling. He said, “Tom’s got a beautiful double leg, he’s got great grappling. I would assume he’d be trying to do the same,” which points straight to the route many analysts expect Aspinall to pursue in a rematch.
Aspinall against Gane would settle the loose end from their first meeting and give the division a clean title line again, with the champion and the interim champion finally finishing the job. It would also stand as one of the UFC’s biggest recent heavyweight fights because it pairs the division’s active titleholder with a former interim champion who just reclaimed that status on a major event stage.
