Ciryl Gane (12-2) is reportedly set to return to the octagon at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi against No. 3 ranked heavyweight contender Alexander Volkov (38-10).
Last April, UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion Tom Aspinall claimed that Ciryl Gane was refusing to fight him. During the MMA Hour, Aspinall stated, “He’s dismissed me on multiple occasions, and I’m not the first guy he’s dismissed. I’m not the first guy that he’s ducked. It’s out there for people to see. The reason that I got the Pavlovich fight is because Ciryl didn’t want it.”
In a Twitch stream, Ciryl Gane stated that Aspinall would only accept his challenge in his absence.
“I don’t want to talk badly about him, even if he [Tom Aspinall] likes to talk badly about me. He only accepts my fights when I’m not available. He likes to say that I turn him down, but the truth is that I have already called him out. … Now that he’s on top, he allows himself to say ‘no, no, no.’ No problem, we’ll meet again.”
Gane last fought on September 2nd, 2023 at UFC Fight Night, where he defeated Serghei Spivac (16-4) via second-round TKO.