Tom Aspinall answers if he feels Ciryl Gane is ducking him - "I don't know what his aspirations are"
Tom Aspinall does not hold a grudge against Ciryl Gane for allegedly refusing to fight him. Aspinall recently claimed that he was supposed to defend the interim UFC heavyweight title against Gane but 'Bon Gamin' turned down the fight in favor of an acting project.
Social media reactions suggest that Gane's decision has damaged his reputation as many fans perceive him to be 'ducking Aspinall', who appears to have a stylistic advantage with a formidable grappling skill set.
Aspinall is now set to rematch No. 4-ranked Curtis Blaydes in the UFC 304 co-main event. The pair previously fought in July 2022 and Blaydes won the fight by TKO due to injury.
In light of this recent bout announcement, Aspinall was interviewed by The Mac Life, where he described his thoughts on whether Gane is 'ducking him'. The 31-year-old said:
"Maybe [Ciryl Gane is ducking me] a bit. I don't know. It's difficult to say like, if he's getting load, I don't know what his aspirations are. He might really want to be an actor. That might be his thing. So he's thinking, 'F*** this MMA thing. I'm going to go and be the French Arnold Schwarzenegger here. I'm going to crack on with that.' Fair play to Ciryl, though. Good luck to him. I've got nothing against Ciryl."
He added:
"He's got a few opportunities to fight me and he's turned it down. That's a facts of it. I'm not saying he's ducking me or he's not ducking me. Right now, he's being an actor and I wish him all the best in that."
Catch Tom Aspinall's comments below (2:52):
Tom Aspinall refuses to take Ciryl Gane's route, declines acting offers
Many MMA fighters have pursued career opportunities outside the prize fighting circuit over the last few years. Most recently, UFC megastar Conor McGregor also made his acting debut with the Road House movie alongside Jake Gyllenhaal. Ciryl Gane is the latest addition to the list of fighters trying their hand at acting.
Continuing further in the aforementioned video, Tom Aspinall was asked if he received any offers for acting projects. The Brit replied:
"Turned them down, mate. I'm a goddamn cage fighter. I don't know if you noticed." [4:19]
Aspinall became the interim UFC heavyweight champion by defeating Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 and has been campaigning hard to fight undisputed champion Jon Jones. However, Jones seems to be intent on facing Stipe Miocic in a legacy-defining fight upon his return to competition.