Aspinall Tips His Winner for Gane vs. Pereira Heavyweight Clash

Tom Aspinall believes he knows who will be crowned the new UFC interim heavyweight champion on the White House lawn.

Speaking for the first time about the co-main event of UFC Freedom 250, Aspinall (15–3 MMA, 8–1 UFC) gave a detailed breakdown of the matchup between former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane and former middleweight and light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.

“First of all, Alex Pereira is a generational talent,” Aspinall said on the Fight Your Corner Podcast. “If he wins this fight—even though it’s for an interim title—he would become the first fighter to win titles in three different weight classes, which is incredible.

“He’s huge. Honestly, I don’t know how he ever made middleweight because he’s about my height—around 6'4" or 6'5". He went through massive weight cuts, and now he’s fighting at heavyweight.”

The intense rivalry between Pereira (13–3 MMA, 10–2 UFC) and former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya now feels like a long time ago. Since then, “Poatan” moved up to light heavyweight, won the title, defended it three times, lost it to Magomed Ankalaev, and then won it back. Now, he’s aiming to make history—but faces a tough challenge in Gane (13–2 MMA, 10–2 UFC).

“Pereira has a lot of power at middleweight and light heavyweight, but he’s also been fighting smaller opponents whose durability isn’t the same,” Aspinall explained. “In my opinion, part of the reason he knocks people out is because he’s significantly bigger than them.

“But someone like Ciryl Gane is used to taking punches from true heavyweights. He went five rounds with Francis Ngannou without being seriously hurt—and Ngannou is one of the hardest hitters in the division. So I’m not sure Pereira’s power will have the same effect at heavyweight.

“Also, Pereira performs best against opponents who don’t move much. Gane is the opposite—he’s a big heavyweight who moves extremely well. He’s very fluid, controls distance effectively, and stays light on his feet. Stylistically, that favors Gane.

“That said, Gane doesn’t deal well with leg kicks. He’s a good kicker himself, but his defense against them isn’t great. Pereira, on the other hand, is an exceptional leg kicker. That’s how he sets up his left hook—he attacks the calf, slows his opponent down, and then lands the punch.”

Aspinall sees paths to victory for both fighters, which makes the prediction difficult. Looking ahead to a future title unification bout, he’s interested in facing either man—for different reasons.

“To be honest, I find it hard to pick a winner in the Gane vs. Pereira fight,” Aspinall said. “Of course, I want revenge against Gane, but you could argue that a fight between me and Pereira would be even bigger. Either way, both are huge matchups.

“If I had to choose, I’d say Gane wins by decision. I think his movement will be too much, and he’ll outpoint Pereira.”