Alex Pereira has shared his thoughts on the upcoming UFC heavyweight title fight.
Tom Aspinall will fight for the first time as the undisputed champion at UFC 321 on October 25.
Ciryl Gane will welcome the Englishman back from 14 months on the sidelines at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
The French fan favorite was shockingly outwrestled by Francis Ngannou and submitted by Jon Jones in his two previous title shots – but Alex Pereira expects him to put up a much better fight when he gets his third go at UFC gold.
- LATEST NEWS: Alex Pereira will ‘crush’ Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 320 due to one factor says legendary UFC striker
Alex Pereira previews the UFC 321 main event
Tom Aspinall has established himself as MMA’s best big man with a bunch of first-round knockout victories.
Curtis Blaydes, Sergei Pavlovich, and Marcin Tybura are his last three opponents. They only managed to last a combined 3 minutes and 22 seconds in the cage with the heavy-handed Brit.
Many are predicting another quick night at the office for Aspinall, but Alex Pereira sees the UFC 321 main event playing out differently.
‘Poatan’ believes Ciryl Gane’s elusive fighting style could help him stretch the fight into the later rounds.
“It’s a tough fight,” Pereira said through a translator during a media scrum ahead of his UFC 320 rematch with Magomed Ankalaev for the light heavyweight belt on Saturday night.
“Tom is a complete fighter, but I do feel like he’s fought a lot of aggressive guys, and I think Gane is a guy who’s gonna do a lot of moving, he’s gonna be a little more cautious, and that moving around a lot might frustrate Tom.
“First, second, third round, maybe Tom can’t find Ciryl Gane, I think it’s gonna be a different fight.”
TalkingPoints
Who wins the UFC 321 main event?
Tom Aspinall expects improved Ciryl Gane at UFC 321
Tom Aspinall believes Ciryl Gane has worked on ‘holes in his ground game’ ahead of their fight.
The heavyweight king says his next opponent could surprise everyone by trying to take him down at UFC 321.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to take me down,” Aspinall said during an exclusive interview with Bloody Elbow.
It’s MMA, so I’m preparing for everything. I work with really high-level guys in all aspects. I’m comfortable anywhere and I’ll take the path of least resistance, however that looks on the night.
“We’ve seen that Ciryl has holes in his ground game, but he’s improved. Stuff like that gives you an opportunity to improve. I wouldn’t be surprised if we get in a lot of grappling exchanges this time, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we have a straight-up standup fight either.
“You’ve gotta be ready for anything in MMA, and I’m preparing for everything.”