Tom Aspinall makes his long-awaited return to action against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi tonight.
It is the Briton’s first fight for some 15 months as he defends his undisputed heavyweight title for the first time at the Etihad Arena.
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Aspinall has not been seen in the octagon since July 2024, when he successfully retained the interim belt he had won against Sergei Pavlovich by producing a third consecutive first-round knockout of Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 in Manchester.
That was a particularly sweet victory on home soil for the Salford native, coming two years almost to the day since a freak early knee injury saw him suffer his lone UFC loss to date against the same opponent in London - where he returned a year later to brush aside Marcin Tybura.
Aspinall’s momentum has been halted by a long delay as he tried to secure a mammoth showdown with mixed martial arts icon and former UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones, whose retirement was eventually confirmed in June, seven months after his stoppage of Stipe Miocic.
Jones relinquished the full title and Aspinall was upgraded from interim to undisputed champion as a result, with a first defence against Gane quickly lined up.
The 35-year-old Frenchman is a veteran of the UFC heavyweight scene and currently ranked at No1 after edging past Alexander Volkov at UFC 310 last December.
Gane is a former interim champion who has twice challenged for the full title, losing to superstars Francis Ngannou and Jones.
Virna Jandiroba and Mackenzie Dern clash in the co-main event for the vacant women’s strawweight belt, while Umar Nurmagomedov meets Mario Bautista and Volkov faces Jailton Almeida, with the winner of that bout potentially set to face the victor of Aspinall vs Gane next.
Aleksandar Rakic and Azamat Murzakanov also compete in a light-heavyweight contest on the main card in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), while the prelim bill features the likes of London’s Nathaniel Wood, who battles Mexican Jose Miguel Delgado in a featherweight clash.
What time is Tom Aspinall fight tonight?
The early UFC 321 prelims are expected to begin at around 3pm BST, which is 6pm local time in Abu Dhabi, 10am ET and 7am PT in the United States.
The main prelim card should be underway from 5pm BST, 8pm local time, 12pm ET and 9am PT.
The main card itself is anticipated to start at approximately 7pm BST, which is 10pm local time, 2pm ET and 11am PT.
Aspinall vs Gane is expected to get underway at around 10pm BST. As ever, those exact timings are subject to change, depending on how the rest of the fights progress on the night.
