Tom Aspinall wants to make the biggest fights he can now that he’s interim heavyweight champion, but the division aren’t so keen.
The Brit won the belt in November after stepping in on short notice to face Sergei Pavlovich as a replacement for undisputed champion Jon Jones’ meeting with Stipe Miocic. But since winning the title, his prospects don’t seem a great deal better in terms of putting together a major fight.
He will have a rare interim title defence as the headliner for UFC 304 in Manchester this summer, where he rematches the only man to beat him in the promotion’s octagon; Curtis Blaydes. But he wanted another name, who bizarrely turned down a shot at the belt.
Tom Aspinall mocks Ciryl Gane with ‘movie’ jibe ahead of UFC 304
The fight that was initially touted for UFC 304 was Aspinall against French striking expert Ciryl Gane, who took on Jones for the belt in March of last year. But it appears that his role in an upcoming film saw him unable to accept the July date.
During a recent promo for the next episode of his show Tom Aspinall’s Fight Lab on TNT Sports, co-host Adam Catterall introduced their next guest; rugby star Ben Kay. Catterall then notes that they were due to have another guest who pulled out.
“The last guy called me yesterday and said they couldn’t make it,” he said before being asked why by Aspinall. “They’re shooting a film or something,” Catterall responded, to which Aspinall joked while staring at the camera: “Shooting a film? Who would turn me down to do a film?”
Ciryl Gane reportedly turned down Tom Aspinall fight in order to shoot a movie
The French heavyweight was reportedly asked to face Aspinall, whom he has previously expressed minimal interest in fighting. But with the interim heavyweight title on the line, it was expected that there were now bigger stakes on the line.
During an interview with The Mac Life last week, Aspinall was asked if the Frenchman was avoiding him, to which he replied: “Maybe a bit, I don’t know. It’s difficult to say… I don’t know what his aspirations are. He might really want to be an actor. That might be his thing.
“So he’s thinking, ‘F*** this MMA stuff. I’m going to go and be the French Arnold Schwarzenegger here. I’m going to crack on with that.’ Fair play to Ciryl, though. Good luck to him. I’ve got nothing against Ciryl.”
Tom Aspinall says he probably won’t watch Ciryl Gane’s movie
Despite the Brit’s generally relaxed and respectful demeanour, he did admit that it’s unlikely he would be tuning in to the film that cost him an hotly desired fight. During that same Mac Life interview he noted that he has great respect for his rival, but has little interest in watching the movie.
“Right now, he’s being an actor, and I wish him all the best in that,” he added. “I do wish him luck with it. No, I probably won’t watch it.
“No hard feelings against Ciryl. I’m not trying to throw him under the bus or anything. I respect him. I respect what he’s doing.”
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