Unlike his calculated and methodical fight game, Tom Aspinall has been relentless in poking Ciryl Gane with verbal jabs for ducking him at UFC 304. Denouncing that the 34-year-old Frenchman, Aspinall has accused him of trying to be the “French Arnold Schwarzenegger“.
Instead of fighting the Englishman, the former interim HW champ has been shooting a movie for Netflix but Aspinall isn’t too impressed with it.
While he doesn’t have any grudges against Gane, Aspinall has been constantly peppering Gane with sly digs. Recently, the 31-year-old in an exclusive to TNTSports, asked who would turn him down for a film.
“Who would turn me down to do a film?”
View this post on Instagram
Though the short clip was all about Aspinall getting on the mat with the world Rugby champion, Ben Kay, Gane caught some strays from the interim heavyweight champion of the UFC. But you must be thinking why Aspinall is so focused on Gane, isn’t he fighting Curtis Blaydes next? Well yes!
For the fans who haven’t caught up to the news yet, Curtis Blaydes wasn’t UFC’s first pick for Aspinall at UFC 304 in Manchester. The higher-ups wanted a classic Frenchman vs Englishman bout, pitting Gane against Aspinall.
However, Gane refused the offer citing that he had a movie obligation to fulfill. With this news coming to light, Aspinall went after Gane, exposing his history of allegedly ducking fights.
Tom Aspinall exposes Ciryl Gane’s ‘pattern’
In all honesty, the UFC heavyweight division has been put on hold. With champion Jon Jones sidelined with an injury and only wanting to fight Stipe Miocic, the division has been forced to look for the next best option. And right now, Tom Aspinall is it.
The interim champ has also been out there trying to make a name for himself, dispatching opponents one after the other. However, with fighters allegedly ducking and shying away from fights, there’s only so much he can do.
Gane refused to take on Aspinall in Manchester which left him with no option other than to fight the #4 ranked Curtis Blaydes. Dropping down to Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour podcast, Aspinall decided to expose Gane after he turned down the fight.
In essence, the Brit says that this was not the first time he had ducked him and he is not the only fighter to have been ducked by Gane. Mentioning the Russian powerhouse Sergei Pavlovich and Blaydes, he vented out his frustration arguing that he got the fight with the Russian only because Gane refused it.
Likewise, the upcoming Blaydes fight is happening just because of Gane’s refusal. However, the Frenchman dismissed the claims and returned fire asking Aspinall to be patient and assuring him that they would meet in the octagon soon.
