Tom Aspinall wouldn’t mind fighting Sergei Pavlovich next if Ciryl Gane isn’t interested in a number-one contender matchup against him.
On Saturday, September 2, Gane bounced back from his loss against Jon Jones by securing a second-round TKO win against Serghei Spivac. Shortly after getting his hand raised, ‘Bon Gamin’ was asked about potentially fighting Aspinall next, who was sitting cageside.
The Frenchman didn’t seem overly interested, creating questions about what’s next for the UFC heavyweight division.
Jon Jones is scheduled to defend his heavyweight title for the first time against Stipe Miocic on November 11. As a result, there is still time for the next title challenger to be determined between Tom Aspinall, Ciryl Gane, and Sergei Pavlovich.
During an interview with The Mac Life, Aspinall was asked about Gane allegedly being uninterested in fighting him next. The English heavyweight responded by saying:
“I’m not a bully. If he doesn’t want the fight, I’m not gonna try and force it on him. I wanted to go in the cage [and faceoff with Ciryl Gane after UFC Paris], the UFC didn’t want me to go in the cage. If he wants the fight, it’s here. If he doesn’t want the fight, we’ll see. I know I’m a bad matchup for him. I think stylistically it’s a good matchup for me, but if he doesn’t want it then I understand.”
On a mission for gold!@Ciryl_Gane with one goal in mind after his #UFCParis victory pic.twitter.com/xTNa4aIQpy
— UFC (@ufc) September 2, 2023
Tom Aspinall shows interest in fighting Sergei Pavlovich next
Sergei Pavlovich has become the boogeyman of the UFC heavyweight division after winning six consecutive fights, all first-round KO/TKOs. Most top contenders haven’t gone out of their way to call out the number one-ranked heavyweight, but Tom Aspinall is willing to fight anyone who can get him to a title shot.
During the same interview with The Mac Life, Aspinall had this to say about who he wants to fight if Ciryl Gane isn’t interested:
“[Without Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic] that only leaves one guy left on it, the big Russian fella who nobody wants. I’m happy to step up and take that. I’m more than happy to fight Sergei Pavlovich. I was supposed to fight him two times before. The fights didn’t happen for whatever reason and, yeah, let’s do it. I’m happy to fight anyone that gets me closer to the title.”
Aspinall continued by clarifying that he maintains hopes a fight against Jon Jones will happen before the latter retires:
“Wait, so [if] Jon Jones retires, me and Pavlovich fight each other for the title? That sounds ideal. Oh, no, it doesn’t actually. I wanna fight Jon Jones really.”
Tom Aspinall made his UFC debut in July 2020. He won his first five fights, all inside the distance, before suffering a loss against Curtis Blaydes due to a severe knee injury after seventeen seconds of action.
On July 22, Aspinall returned to the Octagon and bounced back with a first-round knockout win against Marcin Tybura. He now looks to capitalize on his number four ranking to secure a number-one contender matchup next time out.
