In one of the most anticipated combat sports matchups of the year, UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall clashed with Frenchman Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 this past Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi — but only for four minutes and 35 seconds. After winning all but 25 seconds of the first round in the maximum five-round bout, Gane accidentally poked Aspinall in both eyes, and after the allotted five-minute period given to recuperate from the foul, Aspinall could not continue, resulting in a no-contest.
“Everybody knows … he starts very hard to surprise his opponent,” Gane said. “Defending the takedown, I touched him. We saw some blood on his nose, and it was a really great first round.”
While this is certainly a disappointing ending to the main event, it could turn out to be a blessing in disguise. With the UFC set to enter a seven-year, $7.7 billion deal with Paramount in 2026, which owns the CBS network, the MMA organization may be poised to book the rematch as the first event of the landmark contract. Gane’s performance makes the impending rematch a must-see whenever it is rescheduled. In the co-main event, Mackenzie Dern defeated Virna Jandiroba to win the UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship, which was recently vacated by Chinese competitor Zhang Weili.
In what is shaping up to be an exciting November in combat sports, Weili is moving up 10 pounds to 125 to challenge UFC flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko in a battle between two of the most accomplished women in combat sports history as the co-main event of UFC 322 at Madison Square Garden on November 15. Jack Della Maddalena will make his first UFC welterweight title defense against Islam Makhachev in the main event of the organization’s annual stop at the World’s most famous arena.
Looking ahead to the following weekend, on Saturday, November 22, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, David Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) will defend his WBC light heavyweight title against Anthony Yarde (27-3, 24 KOs). Also on the stacked card, Devin Haney (32-0, 15 KOs) will take on WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr. (27-3, 24 KOs), and WBC junior bantamweight champion Jesse Rodriguez (21-0, 14 KOs) will battle the WBA’s bantamweight title holder Fernando Martinez (18-0, 9 KOs).