Dana White Breaks News on Alluring Tom Aspinall Title Fight and Alex Pereira Return

UFC CEO Dana White broke news on Tom Aspinall, a title rematch, and fresh matchups for October's UFC 320 and UFC 321 PPVs.

Dana White Breaks News on Alluring Tom Aspinall Title Fight and Alex Pereira Return

UFC 321 gets heavyweight headliner after a 600-day logjam, Dana White announced (Source: X/IMAGO)

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UFC CEO Dana White habitually goes ‘Tuesday Talkies’ with bumper announcements (albeit some Power Slap ones) and PPV lineups on his socials. This Tuesday, White announced a much-needed title booking after months of stalled-out action! Undisputed heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall is now headed to the Middle East for his next test at UFC 320! White also divulged some of the UFC 321 lineups right before.

Things have crawled on slowly former champion Jon Jones log jamming the state of things, with two fights in five years in the weight class! Some 7+ months of PPV compensatory negotiations later, Aspinall was still left out as interim champ in waiting. He has had a ‘Bones’ to pick, but recently told the undisputed gold was the endgame, which he got it when Jones unceremoniously hung it up.

Dana White even said execs were down with Jones’ PPV compensatory demands, but he took a rapid U-Turn. For now, the UK native makes a first defense of his undisputed title against Ciryl Gane at the UFC 321 PPV headliner, which goes down inside Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

With UFC champ Jon Jones stalling, Aspinall hinted at other fights. Gane was always a good fit for it; so was Alexander Volkov, who was fast approaching top contender lane with a 4-0 streak before a highly publicized split decision loss to Gane. After yet another highlight KO during UFC on ESPN 70 in Nashville, knockout stat leader and fan-favorite Derrick Lewis was also floated.

Ever since punctuating Aspinall’s first-round TKO of Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 PPV co-headliner last summer, the Brit has wanted to remain active. Now, he has Gane to look forward to.

French star, Gane, (13-2) last contended at UFC 310 vs. Volkov. Ahead of that, he stopped Serghei Spivac in his seventh headliner spot at UFC Paris. This is his third stretch at UFC undisputed Heavyweight gold after two bids to Francis Ngannou (UFC 270) and Jones (UFC 285).

Gane is a stiff test, but it remains to be seen how fight fans take the pairing on this booking. Per statsleader.com (Record Books for the promotion), the flashy Aspinall has a 100 percent finishing rate, with all but one of his fights ending in the first round. With a large frame and sufficient anti-wrestling, he averages least bottom time and has logged all his tenure fights in just 2:02!

Two more fights have been announced for UFC 321 in form of a No. 1 contender scrapper with Jailton Almeida (who many bill the true stiff test to Aspinall), and Volkov. There’s also a fight between Aleksandar Rakic and Azamat Murzakanov. There’s more exciting match-ups for UFC 320 as well!

Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev PPV title rematch booked for October with splendid main card fights

UFC 321’s Aspinall waited nearly 15 months on the bench as interim champ for PPV unification. But for former 205-pound king Alex Pereira, the wound is rather fresh. Despite saying and proving he has made modest changes to his TD defense and some wrestling, he couldn’t stiff Magomed Ankalaev’s attempts. Ankalaev snagged undisputed gold in a shock turnout at UFC 313 main event at T-Mobile Arena.

Dana White's UFC 320 gets title bangers at Sin City
Dana White’s UFC 320 gets title bangers at Sin City (Source: X)

Now, two UFC title fights are heading back to “Sin City”, right before the PPV in the Middle East. UFC CEO Dana White announced on his IG that UFC 320 PPV lineup was slated for October 4th, yet again at the T-Mobile grounds.

Before losing out his belt, UFC’s 9th two-weight champ ‘Poatan’ had a one-of-one triple knockout title campaign in 2024. Meanwhile, Ankalaev (20-1-1) is on a 12-fight unbeaten roll with wins over standouts like Rakic, Johnny Walker, Anthony Smith, and Thiago Santos. The duo has been bantering for a while, with Ankalev saying his competitive UD was no fluke, and Pereira was ducking his rematch calls.

Other than the stoic Pataxó warrior out of Bahia gunning for his coveted gold, Dana White made other announcements too. The respectful No. 4-ranked bantamweight contender Cory Sandhagen now has his chance at reigning kingpin Merab Dvalishvili. ‘Machine’ from Georgia acclimated to his title challenge at UFC 316, and now ‘Sandman’ can strike gold at UFC 320 PPV co-main event.

Additionally, former title challenger Jiri Prochazka takes on (former Pereira title challenger) Khalil Rountree in a fiery No.1 contender’s matchup. ‘Warhorse’ is fresh off a win over Jamahal Hill at UFC Baku headliner. The month of October promises an all-out action to say the least.


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