Daniel Cormier: Gane Would’ve Been the Toughest Fight of Aspinall’s Career

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Daniel Cormier thinks Ciryl Gane would have posed Tom Aspinall all kinds of problems had their fight lasted longer. 

Aspinall put his heavyweight title on the line against Gane in the main event at UFC 321 on Saturday in Abu Dhabi. “Honey Badger” was a heavy betting favorite going into his first title defense against Gane. However, Gane successfully defended takedowns and seemingly outclassed Aspinall on the feet early on. In an unfortunate turn of events, Gane accidentally poked Aspinall in the eye late in the first round. The fight was declared a no contest after Aspinall was unable to continue despite taking four minutes to recover. 

Daniel Cormier saw a version of Gane at UFC 321 which fans were originally expecting the Frenchman to display against Jon Jones. Cormier noted that Aspinall had to resort to a lot of kicking, deviating from his usual style. According to “DC,” Gane would have been the toughest matchup of Aspinall’s career had their fight lasted longer.

Cormier: Aspinall Had to Do Things Differently

“Cyril Gane fought tonight like we expected him to fight against Jon Jones,” Cormier said on YouTube. “That was going to be the toughest fight of Tom Aspinall’s career. I can say that very confidently because I saw him with his face and nose all bloody from jabs of Ciryl Gane, who landed it multiple times over the course of that first round… I saw Tom Aspinall land some nasty stuff too. I saw Aspinall throw a high kick. I’ve never seen him throw a high kick, it’s probably because he hasn’t had to throw a high kick… Tonight Tom [Aspinall] was kicking more, he was trying to wrestle more, he was doing so many things differently because he had to.

“Unfortunately, Ciryl Gane seemed prepared for all of that, and he was fighting better than we saw him in a long time.”

👀Daniel Cormier says Ciryl Gane would’ve been Tom Aspinall’s toughest fight if the eye poke hadn’t happened

"I saw [Tom Aspinall] with his face and nose all bloody from jabs of Ciryl Gane, who landed it multiple times.

Tonight Tom [Aspinall] was kicking more, he was trying to… pic.twitter.com/5RSHUQonjh

— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) October 25, 2025