Ciryl Gane will have to fight for UFC title

Dana White confirmed that Ciryl Gane will not automatically become the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion.

Ciryl Gane will have to fight for UFC title

UFC President Dana White has provided an important update on the status of interim UFC heavyweight world champion Ciryl Gane. After Tom Aspinall vacated his title, it was initially assumed that Ciryl Gane would automatically be promoted to undisputed world champion. We’ve seen this happen many times in the past, but it appears things will play out differently this time.

In an interview with Sportsnet’s Diana Belbita, White confirmed that Ciryl Gane will not be promoted directly to heavyweight world champion, but will instead have to face another opponent to earn the title.

“Does it make him the undisputed champion? No, he’s still gotta fight. We’ll see how this whole thing plays out with Aspinall and Ciryl will fight, and we’ll see who becomes the champion. I mean, this isn’t the first time this has ever happened, and it’s happening right now with Valentina Shevchenko. This is nothing new. This happens sometimes. It’s unfortunate. Not the best outcome, but it is what it is”

he said.

When asked when Tom Aspinall will be back in shape, he unfortunately couldn’t provide an answer since he doesn’t know himself yet. Hopefully, though, he’ll be able to recover quickly and return in early 2027.

An opponent for Ciryl Gane has not yet been announced. Many are speculating about Alex Pereira, but it was actually thanks to him that Ciryl Gane was able to put himself in title contention in the first place, so it’s rather unlikely that the two will face off again. The most likely candidate would be Josh Hokit.

What do you think of the developments regarding the title, and would Josh Hokit be a good contender? Let us know in the comments!

I was actually almost certain that Ciryl Gane would be promoted. The news came as a bit of a surprise to me. It doesn’t change much, though, since there’s going to be a title fight one way or another. I’m curious to see who the opponent will ultimately be.