There are clouds of uncertainty surrounding the heavyweight title picture after reports claimed that Tom Aspinall won’t get to fight Jon Jones in the highly anticipated title unification bout. If we believe Chael Sonnen, the Englishman is speculated to be fighting former interim champion Ciryl Gane and defending his interim title for a second time. However, this news has many UFC pundits and analysts confused. UFC legend Michael Bisping is one of many analysts who want to see the Jones-Aspinall matchup, but ‘Bones’ doesn’t show up; he’s calling for the undisputed champion to be stripped if it’s Gane getting into the mix.
But how would a fight between the Frenchman and Aspinall go down? While sharing an insight into this rumored clash, the Hall of Famer claimed that it could be a “really interesting” heavyweight clash. Firstly, Bisping mentioned the aspects where his favorite fighter, Tom Aspinall, excels. Well, he did keep it unbiased, even though it was his countryman he was talking about. ‘The Count’ pointed out the interim champ’s knockout prowess, excellent ground game, and technical ability. However, he also claimed to believe that Gane might give Aspinall a run for his money and go toe-to-toe on many aspects of the fight game.
“Of course, when you look at Tom, what separates him from most heavyweights is his athletic ability, his size, his agility, his speed, of course, his technical prowess, and his knockout power,” Michael Bisping stated on his YouTube channel. “Ciryl Gane can match him for a lot of that stuff. Of course, Tom is more technical, and he’s more well-rounded. He’s got better wrestling. He’s got jiu-jitsu, and he probably hits harder. It’s because he’s not scared of being taken down.”
One of the key aspects where the Frenchman has shown vulnerability is on the ground and his takedown defense. We all know how the title fight against Jones at UFC 285 went down as ‘Bones’ took the Frenchman down pretty easily in the first minute of the fight and made him out. Fans might have expected that, but nobody expected him to get dominated by Francis Ngannou at UFC 270 on the ground since the Cameroonian-French star isn’t typically known for his ground game.
Hence, Bisping suggested that if ‘Bon Gamin’ hasn’t improved on that aspect of his fight game, things could get tough for him against Tom Aspinall. “Tom’s far more advanced in terms of technical ability when it comes to grappling in general… And if Ciryl Gane has improved his takedown defense, it could turn into a very, very interesting fight. However, I think Tom beats him,” ‘The Count’ added.
MMA: UFC Fight Night-Gane vs Tuivasa, Sep 3, 2022, Paris, FRANCE Ciryl Gane red gloves before fighting Tai Tuivasa blue gloves during UFC Fight Night at Accor Arena. Mandatory Credit: Per Haljestam-USA TODAY Sports, 03.09.2022 00:52:16, 18982412, UFC Fight Night, MMA PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xPerxHaljestamx 18982412
However, not everybody would agree with Michael Bisping’s claim that Ciryl Gane can match Tom Aspinall if they end up fighting each other. Among the bunch is one of his rivals, Tai Tuivasa, who had some stiff words for the heavyweight fighters.
Tai Tuivasa claims heavyweight fighters are no good except for Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall
Tai Tuivasa could have been the one to welcome Jon Jones into the heavyweight division if he hadn’t suffered a knockout loss against Ciryl Gane in 2022. However, he still doesn’t think Gane is that good of a fighter since he had his high moments in the fight as well, as he momentarily stunned him with a strike, but couldn’t take advantage of it. Recently, the Aussie had a conversation with Ariel Helwani, blasting all the heavyweights, including the Frenchman, for making the heavyweight division boring. Guess what? Tuivasa did single out Jones and Aspinall as the only two exciting heavyweights.
“I don’t watch the fights, but I watch some things… The heavyweights are s–t. They’re all s–t, except for Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall. Other than that, fuc—g everyone’s pretty standard,” said Tai Tuivasa. He believes that none of the top 15 look like they’re something out of the ordinary when he watches them fight inside the Octagon. Do you agree with his assessment?
Well, we still have to wait for UFC to make the Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane fight official, since nothing is sure about how Dana White plans to proceed with the heavyweight title picture. In the meantime, let us know your thoughts on Michael Bisping’s analysis in the comments down below.
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