Was Cyril Gane Gifted a Championship Shot?
The UFC Heavyweight Division has been marked by controversy since early 2023. Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou had a falling out with the promotion following his championship defense against Cyril Gane, leading to the Heavyweight Championship being vacated. Two months later, Jon Jones would capture the vacant championship in his Heavyweight debut. Jones would embark on one of the most infamous championship reigns in the UFC’s history, holding the Undisputed Heavyweight Championship hostage while seemingly avoiding Interim Heavyweight Champion Tom Aspinall. However, after Jon Jones' retirement, Aspinall has finally been promoted to Undisputed Heavyweight Champion. Even though the long-awaited era of Aspinall is finally upon us, his first defense proves that controversy remains within the division.
Cyril Gane will be competing in his third UFC Heavyweight Championship fight at UFC 321. Gane, who is 0-2 in his previous attempts at capturing UFC gold, enters the fight following a win against Alexander Volkov at UFC 310. Gane’s win against Volkov has been deemed a clear robbery by MMA fans and is one of the main reasons fans are against the Frenchman getting another title shot. The fight was rather lackluster, with the biggest moments stemming from Volkov’s dominance on the ground. After dropping the first round to Gane, Volkov would bounce back by landing the bigger shots in the second. With the fight seemingly being scored 19-19 after two rounds, Volkov would dominate the third round, closing out a clear victory against the Heavyweight contender. However, two judges would score the second round for Gane, resulting in a split-decision victory for ‘Bon Gamin’.
Following the fight, UFC President Dana White would make his opinion on the matter very clear. White assured Volkov that he would make it up to him, critiquing the judges' scorecards during the post-fight presser. However, even if Volkov won in the fans' hearts, Cyril Gane was still deemed the official winner. When looking at the UFC Heavyweight rankings, it’s clear to see why Dana White chose Gane to be Aspinall’s first challenger despite Gane’s controversial win. Cyril Gane is the number one-ranked Heavyweight and the only Heavyweight in the top four who has not fought Tom Aspinall. Despite the valid criticism surrounding Cyril Gane’s third championship opportunity, there is simply no other serious contender to Tom Aspinall's Championship.
