Ciryl Gane explains why he’s not interested in fighting Tom Aspinall his next time out

Ciryl Gane isn’t interested in fighting Tom Aspinall his next time out.

After Aspinall beat Marcin Tybura at UFC London, he said he was going to fight the winner of Ciryl Gane vs. Serghei Spivac in the main event of UFC Paris. Aspinall was in attendance for the event that saw Gane return to the win column with a second-round TKO win.

Following the event, many expected the next fight would be Ciryl Gane vs. Francis Ngannou. Yet, over two weeks removed from his win in Paris, Gane says he isn’t interested in the matchup with Aspinall next time out.

“I know a lot of people talk about Aspinall but that doesn’t make sense for me. With my management, they did a really great job all my career, that’s why it was so fast. Now, I just want to go to the belt,” Gane said on The MMA Hour. “I’m the number one contender, he’s number four, it doesn’t make sense. I just went down, I did it already, it was a big risk. Now, I don’t want to have another risk. I’m going to stay here for a long time. So, we will have time for Tom Aspinall for sure, it’s going to come. No worries for the people, we will do this fight, but now, my fight is not this one, I just want the belt and I want to go to the belt.”

The comments from Ciryl Gane are vastly different from what he said before his fight with Serghei Spivac. After losing to Jon Jones in March for the belt, the Frenchman said he was no longer in a rush to fight for the title again.

“All of my career, I was in a rush. I started MMA in 2018 and I did my first fight just after six months. Since this fight, I was already in a rush until today. So, yes, I want to take my time now,” Gane said at UFC Paris media day. “I want to take my time at the gym. But I’m going to find some time without all of the things you have around the training and the gym. So, I don’t need to take my time in between two fights, I need more time. No, it’s about that. I need to manage my schedule without all the things you have around the fight, and like that we’re going to have time.”

Of course, Ciryl Gane did win a fight in between. But, it appears he has changed his tune and now is only interested in fighting for the belt. Whether or not Gane will get a title fight next is to be seen, but perhaps if both Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic retire as some think, then he could find himself fighting for the vacant heavyweight title.