After months and months of trolling, Jon Jones finally announced his retirement and left a big void in the heavyweight division, as Dana White wanted to make the fight against Tom Aspinall happen. The UFC CEO planned it for months after UFC 309, claiming that the fight is in the works. But now that the plans fell flat on White’s face, a new contender has emerged in the form of Ciryl Gane, who appears to have an important update about his next fight.

‘Bon Gamin’ has been away from the Octagon action, busy with his movie commitments. Much like Conor McGregor, the Frenchman has also dipped his hands in acting, with roles in movies like ‘Den of Thieves 2: Pantera’, and guess what? Ciryl Gane even got the leading role in Netflix’s action movie, ‘K.O.’ Well, now, it’s time for the heavyweight fighter to come back and fight, and he claims that his team is actively in discussion with the UFC.

Ciryl Gane revealed that he’s had his eye on the title for a long time now. The Frenchman has been calling out Tom Aspinall for over a year and a half, ever since the latter won the interim title. ‘Bon Gamin’ substantiated his right for a title shot, highlighting that he is the one who’s at the top of the current UFC heavyweight rankings.

“My manager, Fernand Lopez, talked to the matchmaking [team] with Hunter [Campbell]. I know they work on it this week, and yes, we keep in touch,” Ciryl Gane revealed on the UFC Unfiltered podcast. “Nothing fixed yet. We’re just waiting for more discussions and maybe a location and date. But yeah, we are really confident of this fight happening because we know I am the no.1 contender at first. So, this is [what] makes sense.”

However, Ciryl Gane didn’t just talk about him being the sensible contender to compete for Tom Aspinall‘s title. He addressed the other fighter, who’s been on a roll as well. In case you’re wondering who, well, it’s none other than Alexander Volkov. Here’s what he had to say.

Ciryl Gane explains why he deserves to fight Tom Aspinall more than Alexander Volkov

Alexander Volkov acquired an impressive 4-fight winning streak after losing to Tom Aspinall back in 2022. But his momentum came to a halt when he rubbed shoulders against Ciryl Gane last December at UFC 310. It was a close win for ‘Bon Gamin’ and maybe he acknowledges that. After all, Gane walked out of the Octagon after he received the decision win. While some say it was because of a foot injury, others claim that he wasn’t satisfied.

Ciryl Gane believes that if it’s not him fighting for the title, then the next logical opponent for Tom Aspinall would be Alexander Volkov, who’s ranked #2. However, he did add that the Russian fighter lost to the interim champion, and Gane has two wins over Volkov as well. “Number two is Volkov. He fought already against Tom Aspinall and he lost. I won on it twice.” Well, ‘Bon Gamin’s statement does make sense for him to fight Aspinall.

Well, Dana White has to act fast because Tom Aspinall has been away from action for far too long. With Ciryl Gane appearing confident that he will get the title shot, it remains to be seen what the other heavyweights have to say about this situation. Regardless, let us know if you think Gane is the deserving title contender in the comments down below.