Daniel Cormier’s major point featured British MMA star Tom Aspinall at the guts of it and showed the standout detail concerning the UFC’s current heavyweight division.
Tom Aspinall has been out of the octagon since his first UFC heavyweight title defence led to a no-contest result against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 in 2025.
Ciryl Gane by chance poked Aspinall in the attention and the 33-year-old heavyweight champion was unable to proceed beyond the primary round on the Etihad Arena.
Aspinall had surgery on each of his eyes in early 2026 for a rare condition that he had and the Salford-born fighter is now targeting a return to the MMA octagon.
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Daniel Cormier singled out Tom Aspinall for the challenge that Alex Pereira faced against Ciryl Gane
Tom Aspinall revealed late last month that he had been cleared to return to “full training” and was in “talks” with the UFC over his rematch with Ciryl Gane.
Gane arrange a second encounter with Aspinall after the 36-year-old French UFC star won the interim heavyweight title against Alex Pereira at UFC Freedom 250.
Alex Pereira made his debut at heavyweight and the 38-year-old Brazilian MMA fighter suffered a second-round TKO defeat to Gane on the White House-hosted event.
Speaking ahead of the UFC Freedom 250 card, which was recently uploaded to YouTube, Daniel Cormier explained that Gane was a “real heavyweight” in his eyes.
Cormier added that Gane was the hardest test that Pereira could have taken for his heavyweight debut outside of facing UFC title holder Aspinall.
“He’s [Gane] an actual heavyweight,” he told MMA fans during a live Q&A in June.
“So, if he goes on the market and he fights like an actual heavyweight, it’s a tricky challenge for Alex.
“It truly is the toughest fight for him within the division outside of Tom Aspinall. And that’s why you see the betting line where it’s, where Ciryl Gane is definitely a favourite.”
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UFC legend Daniel Cormier pinpointed the large difference between Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane
Cormier was asked how he would have coached Gane for the Pereira fight at UFC White House had he been within the interim heavyweight champion’s corner.
The 47-year-old UFC legend claimed that the scales were already tipped in Gane’s favour due to his weight going into the Pereira encounter last month.
“And if I’m Ciryl Gane, I’m just telling him to be exactly who he’s been,” he explained.
“He’s a heavyweight, man. I said this the opposite day to Alex. I am going… or Ciryl [and] I said, ‘When was the last time you weighed?’ I said 84 kilos because they’re, you realize, French kilos?”
“He [Gane] goes, ‘I used to be 15.’ I said, ‘Pereira made that weight two years ago.’ Ciryl Gane has not weighed 185 kilos since he was 15 years old. He’s 37 now — 22 years [ago], he’s an actual heavyweight.”
A rematch between Gane and Aspinall for the UFC heavyweight title has not been officially confirmed, despite being within the works in the intervening time.
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