There is a lot at stake for Tom Aspinall next weekend, as the Briton defends the undisputed UFC heavyweight title for the first time.
In the main event of UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi, the Wigan fighter defends the gold against France’s Ciryl Gane, having been elevated from interim champion when Jon Jones retired this summer. That moment brought an end to a frustrating saga, in which Jones, 38, refused to defend the regular belt against Aspinall, despite the 32-year-old being the rightful next challenger.
Amid that saga, Aspinall in fact took the rare decision to defend the interim belt, knocking out Curtis Blaydes in the first round in Manchester, but he has not fought since that night in July 2024. Now, he takes on Gane, a fellow ex-interim champion, who has twice failed to win the undisputed strap.
In his previous undisputed-title fights, 35-year-old Gane was outpointed by former teammate Francis Ngannou in 2022, and submitted by Jones in round one in 2023. He will enter the Etihad Arena next weekend on the back of a controversial win last time out, having narrowly outpointed Alexander Volkov in December.
Here’s all you need to know about UFC 321.
When is UFC 321?
UFC 321 will take place on Saturday 25 October at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The prelims will begin at 3pm BST (7am PT / 9am CT / 10am ET), with the main card following at 7pm BST (11am PT / 1pm CT / 2pm ET).
How can I watch it in the UK and US?
In the UK, the UFC 321 main card will air live on TNT Sports Box Office at a cost of £19.99. Viewers do not need a TNT subscription to buy the pay-per-view. It can also be purchased via Discovery+, EE TV, Virgin Media, Amazon Prime Video, and Sky Sports. The prelims will stream live on Discovery+ and UFC Fight Pass.
In the US, ESPN+ will stream the main card on pay-per-view. ESPN+ will also stream the prelims to its subscribers, as will UFC Fight Pass.
Odds
Aspinall – 1/4
Gane – 3/1
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Fight card in full
Subject to change; ‘C’ denotes champion
Main card
Tom Aspinall (C) vs Ciryl Gane (heavyweight title)
Virna Jandiroba vs Mackenzie Dern 2 (vacant women’s strawweight title)
Umar Nurmagomedov vs Mario Bautista (bantamweight)
Alexander Volkov vs Jailton Almeida (heavyweight)
Aleksandar Rakic vs Azamat Murzakanov (light-heavyweight)
Prelims
Ludovit Klein vs Mateusz Rebecki (lightweight)
Ikram Aliskerov vs Junyong Park (middleweight)
Abdul-Kareem Al-Sewady vs Matheus Camilo (lightweight)
Nathaniel Wood vs Jose Miguel Delgado (featherweight)
Hamdy Abdelwahab vs Chris Barnett (heavyweight)
Azat Maksum vs Mitch Raposo (flyweight)
Jaqueline Amorim vs Mizuki (women’s strawweight)
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