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What does “third time’s the charm” mean in French? In the interest of full transparency, this is a rhetorical question that will be answered in the final paragraph of this article, but the saying must have Cyril Gane At least once in the build-up ufc 321.
The thing Gane worries about the most in his playing career is the third time, be in his grasp on saturdayKept safe somewhere inside Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Arena: the undisputed heavyweight title.
Gane, now 35, knows what it’s like to feel the embrace of the interim belt, and trace its gold, embossed letters along with the 4oz gloves that serve as every UFC fighter’s biggest negotiation tool. Yet the Frenchman failed to unify his title with the official version of Francis Ngannou in 2022, failing to withstand john jones With the vacant undisputed belt in 2023, and on Saturday, he will share the cage A man who uses those leather conversation tools like no one else can,
Tom Aspinall Gane also knows what it’s like to be interim UFC heavyweight champion, and one could argue that – in another world – Gane might have had the same privilege of becoming undisputed champion. That said, some would argue that Aspinall has been “lucky” in the two years since winning the interim belt; Forced to remain outside the cage for long periods of time, Aspinall was teased by the prospect of a legacy-defining fight with Jones, Only for the latter to retire after ruining parts of Britain’s flagship.,
Yet when Aspinall Is allowed in the cage, There is a terrible thrill of destructionTwo minutes and two seconds is Aspinall’s average fight time, the shortest of any UFC athlete with five or more fights, and – barring an injury early in a fight – he has punched in those numbers by punching out a fighter from the heavyweight division. Don’t always pull punches, mind; The 32-year-old’s submission threat is one of his most formidable assets, as well as his ability to combine it with his freak power, uncommon speed and agility, and impressive ring IQ.
One can’t help but think of Aspinall’s unexpected tribute math questionAs he ducked back to avoid a kick to the head from Alexander Volkov, then slipped through a cross as if he was dodging bullets, before finding the takedown. This marks the beginning of the end of Russia in 2022. And conversely, one can’t help but think of Gane’s surrender against Jones, when the French kickboxer weakened under the wrestling of the heavyweight debutant and lost at the two-minute mark.
Blur those scenes together and you’ll have a premonition of what’s going to happen. UFC 321 main event It will look as Aspinall makes his first defense of the Undisputed Title.
Still, the Wigan heavyweight is the first to appreciate Gane’s talent, and he’s not taking the task lightly. After the long saga with Jones, Aspinall now feels the pressure of the game.
Many accused the 38-year-old Jones of retiring out of fear of the Briton, who was viewed as the world’s consensus best heavyweight even before he was awarded the undisputed belt. But if Aspinall fails on Saturday, Jones and his fans will be out in full force – certainly on social media. The supporters’ pounce on Aspinall’s seemingly generational skills will give way to sighs, while in other corners there will be jeers.
Aspinall’s defeat would change the projected future of the division as we know it. There is a profound possibility to consider this.
In any case, it is strange that more of Aspinall’s career was ruined by Jones than Gane, despite it being the Frenchman who actually fought the American. Since that fight, Gane has struggled to match Aspinall-like activity, competing only twice and most recently defeating Volkov (controversially) last December. Aspinall himself last fought in July 2024, overcoming the aforementioned injury loss by defeating Curtis Blaydes in barely a minute. Aspinall also made the rare decision to defend the interim belt at that contest.
That brought immense pressure, but Saturday will somehow present an even steeper cliff for Aspinall. And in 4oz gloves, all it takes is a little push.
Importantly though, Aspinall has always been open about his “fear” of fighting and has thrived despite it – or channeled it. Can Gane do this?
“If you’re scrimmaging in front of millions of people, you’ve got to feel the pressure,” Aspinall recently told TNT Sports. “The difference is, I think I perform really well against pressure. I think Cyril is an extremely talented fighter… [but] I think sometimes the pressure on him becomes too much.
“At some stage it becomes too much for everyone,” the always polite Aspinall quickly added, “but I think I’m one of those guys who shines under pressure.
“Someone said to me recently that elite fighters… it means everything to them, but they do it like it means nothing. And I think that’s the perspective I have [applied] really well. This fight means absolutely everything, but I have to go out there like I don’t care.
“This is Cyril’s third title shot, and although there’s a lot of pressure on me, there’s a lot of pressure on him too – because if he doesn’t win it, he probably won’t get a fourth title shot.”
And so for Gain, the third time really should be the charm. To save you from seeing this: never two without three,