Ciryl Gane has finally spoken against rival Tom Aspinall’s long-held belief that he is avoiding a grudge fight between the pair.
For over a year, Aspinall has been pushing to face Gane, even travelling to Paris in the hopes of scoring a face-off in the octagon after the fact. But he has been forced to take on other challenges as the Frenchman has appeared uninterested in such a meeting.
Even the interim heavyweight title couldn’t tempt Gane out for UFC 304, with Aspinall claiming that his appearance in a French movie made the date this month untenable. But Gane has defended his position, insisting that he is happy to fight when the timing is right.
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Tom Aspinall claims Ciryl Gane is avoiding a fight between the pair
Tom Aspinall has proven to be a victim of his own success during his UFC run. A mix of utter dominance in his octagon outings mixed with a muted public persona have meant that he has been unable to secure the major fights he needs, even now as interim champion.
Undisputed title holder Jon Jones wants nothing to do with unifying the division, and asked if he feels Ciryl Gane is also avoiding such a bout, he told The Mac Life that he believes it to be the case. “Maybe a bit,” he mused after noting that his rival turned down a title fight to shoot a movie in France.
“I don’t know. It’s difficult to say, like, if he’s getting loads [of money]. 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.”
Asked about if he would watch the movie, Aspinall replied: “Right now, he’s being an actor, and I wish him all the best in that… 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.”
Ciryl Gane disputes Tom Aspinall’s claims that he is ducking a fight
However, Ciryl Gane has a different take on the situation. He insists that he is happy to take on Aspinall, but had other commitments that kept him from the July 27 date in Manchester and that the fight is eventually going to happen.
In fact, Gane says that he has already called for the bout, telling fans during a stream on Twitch that was translated by French outlet La Sueur: “He only accepts my fights when I cannot. He likes to say that I refuse him.
“But the truth is that I have already called him out on the networks…Now that he is above, he allows himself to say ‘no, no, no’. No problem, we’ll meet each other.”
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