Dana White has said Ciryl Gane will not be upgraded from interim champion to the UFC’s undisputed heavyweight king.
This week, Tom Aspinall vacated the undisputed title due to complications from a severe eye injury, which was caused by Gane’s eye pokes in their fight last October.
As Aspinall defended the belt for the first time, he was poked in the eyes several times by Gane, forcing a no-contest. Aspinall has been on the shelf ever since, while Gane won the interim title by stopping Alex Pereira at the White House in June – after landing more alleged fouls.
The expectation from many in mixed martial arts was that Gane, despite his controversial outings against Aspinall and Pereira, would automatically be made the undisputed champion, just as Aspinall was after Jon Jones retired as champion last summer.
That will not be the case, however, according to UFC president and CEO White, who said to Sportsnet:“Does it make him the undisputed champion? No, he’s still got to fight.”
Gane’s next fight will be announced “very soon”, White said, before he added: “We’ll see how this whole thing plays out with Aspinall. Ciryl will fight, and we’ll see who becomes the champion. This isn’t like this is the first time this has ever happened.
“And it’s happening right now with Valentina Shevchenko, too. This is nothing new; this happens sometimes, and it’s unfortunate. Not the best outcome, but it is what it is.”
White was referencing Shevchenko’s decision to vacate the women’s flyweight strap this month, setting up a vacant-title fight between Natalia Silva and Wang Cong.
When asked about the timeline for Aspinall’s return, White said: “I don’t [know]. Obviously, whenever he feels healthy again, whenever his eyes are healed, then we’re ready for him.”
Last week, Pereira called for a rematch with Gane, having alleged that the French fighter landed numerous illegal blows to the back of his head during their fight.
The only other viable contenders for a title fight with Gane appear to be veteran Alexander Volkov and rising, divisive star Josh Hokit. Volkov was outpointed by Gane in 2021 and 2024, but the result of their rematch proved highly controversial.
