Ciryl Gane’s coach has not taken too kindly to some of UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall’s recent remarks.
The heavyweight division is finally moving on this year following a lengthy saga involving a champion who was reluctant to face his interim counterpart in Jon Jones.
After Dana White announced Jones’ controversial retirement in June, Aspinall was elevated to undisputed status and quickly had his first defense lined up for UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi on October 25.
The Englishman will have a long-awaited showdown with Gane, a fellow former interim champ. It likely won’t have the same attention or animosity that a unification fight with ‘Bones’ would have had, but there are some points of tension between the two camps.
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Coach Fernand Lopez takes issue with Tom Aspinall’s ‘ducking’ claims
After his return was confirmed, Aspinall accused Gane of ducking him as many as four times in the past. That was an echo of the sentiment many had shared regarding Jones’ failed matchup with the Manchester native.
That claim has riled up Gane’s longtime coach, Fernand Lopez. The MMA Factory founder, who has also trained the likes of Francis Ngannou and Nassourdine Imavov, hit back during a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show.
“The part of the whining where he’s talking about people avoiding him — do you really think in this division when you get in the top 10, and when you get to the third, the second one, the champ, you really think that people are making the choices guided by fear?” Lopez said (h/t Uncrowned).
“It’s not about being scared of someone. It’s about making choices. I choose to fight with you, or I don’t choose to fight with you, and we will call you a coward, or someone who ducked a fight when the UFC gives you a major proposition, and you say no. Not because anyone calls you out.
“It’s kind of annoying, whining around saying that…Ciryl ducked him and this and that,” Lopez continued. “Everyone ducked him, he’s walking around like we’re a duck. It’s kind of annoying because generally, the few times we met with Tom, the family, everything was so respectful and smooth.”
Lopez continued, referencing Aspinall’s frustration when his attendance at UFC Paris in 2023 did not lead to an in-cage faceoff or callout by the Frenchman.
Having heard the champ “whine” ever since, Gane’s coach understands Jones’ stance on dismissing Aspinall.
“He decided on his own to fly to Paris and challenge Ciryl,” Lopez said. “I’m there, and then no one at the UFC asked us if we want Tom to get in the cage. No one. Everything was smooth. Then you have someone cageside, who says to you, ‘Well, I want to fight you. Can you call me out?’ Why should (Gane) do that?
“I don’t know if it’s frustration or what he’s doing, but I find that very annoying. I can understand what Jon Jones is saying. That sounds annoying to come back and try to tease people. The fight is happening, so let’s just come down and have this fight,” he concluded.
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Joe Rogan would have picked a different challenger for Tom Aspinall
The decision to give Gane another title shot has divided opinion, and one prominent UFC personality thinks the Frenchman was the wrong choice for Aspinall’s first undisputed defense.
Joe Rogan wouldn’t have booked Aspinall against Gane, something that he outlined during a recent episode of his JRE MMA Show alongside Khalil Rountree Jr.
Instead, the veteran color commentator would have looked to cash in on Derrick Lewis’ recent knockout win over Tallison Teixeira at UFC Nashville.
“If I was running things, I would’ve set up the Derrick Lewis fight with Aspinall,” Rogan said. “I might say forget Ciryl Gane for now. Derrick just had this big knockout win, who’s more popular than Derrick? Who’s more beloved by fans than Derrick? Set it up.”