PARIS, FRANCE – SEPTEMBER 05: (L-R) Opponents Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Gane pose during the UFC 321 press conference at The Accor Arena on September 05, 2025 in Paris, France. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
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The next UFC pay-per-view card, UFC 321, takes place on October 25 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. At the top of the card is a heavyweight title fight between champion Tom Aspinall and former interim UFC heavyweight titleholder Ciryl Gane. In the evening’s co-main event, Virna Jandiroba and Mackenzie Dern battle for the vacant UFC women’s strawweight title.
The fight card has an earlier than usual start time.
UFC 321 Main Card: Aspinall Vs. Gane
Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane – For Aspinall’s UFC heavyweight title
Virna Jandiroba vs. Mackenzie Dern – For vacant UFC women’s strawweight title
Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Mario Bautista – Bantamweight
Alexander Volkov vs. Jailton Almeida – Heavyweight
Aleksandar Rakić vs. Azamat Murzakanov – Light heavyweight
UFC 321 Official Fights
kram Aliskerov vs. Park Jun-yong – Middleweight
Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady vs. Matheus Camilo – Lightweight
Hamdy Abdelwahab vs. Chris Barnett – Heavyweight
Azat Maksum vs. Mitch Raposo – Flyweight
Jaqueline Amorim vs. Mizuki Inoue – Women’s strawweight
UFC 321 Fight Card Date:
Saturday, October 25, 2025
UFC 321 Fight Card Location:
Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
UFC 321 Time:
Main Card: 2:00 p.m. ET
Preliminary Card: 1o:00 a.m. ET
Early Prelims: TBA
UFC 321 Fight Card Main Event: Tom Aspinall Vs. Ciryl Gane
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – JULY 27: Tom Aspinall of England reacts after his knockout victory against Curtis Blaydes in the interim UFC heavyweight championship bout during the UFC 304 event at Co-op Live on July 27, 2024 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
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Tom Aspinall (15-3) had a 7-2 professional MMA record when the UFC inked him to a deal in 2020. Aspinall made his promotional debut in July 2020 with a 45-second knockout win over Jake Collier. The win earned the then 27-year-old his first “Performance of the Night” bonus.
A knockout win over Alan Baudot followed in October of that year. Aspinall made it three stoppages in a row in February 2021 when he tapped Andrei Arlovski in the second round of their matchup, a card that was headlined by Curtis Blaydes losing to Derrick Lewis by second-round KO.
Aspinall’s win over Arlovski broke him into the rankings at No. 13. First-round stoppage wins over Serghei Spivac (TKO) and Alexander Volkov (submission) followed the Arlovski triumph.
The Blaydes matchup was next on Aspinall’s schedule. The injury he suffered in that contest kept him out of action until July 2023 when he stepped into the Octagon to face Marcin Tybura. Aspinall showed no hesitation or ill effects from his knee injury, as he dispatched Tybura in 73 seconds, winning the fight by TKO.
Then, with UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones injured and out of his scheduled UFC 295 matchup against Stipe Miocic, the UFC tapped Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich to face off for the interim heavyweight title at UFC 295. Aspinall won the bout, and the title, with a 69-second knockout.
Aspinall defended the interim crown once, defeating Curtis Blaydes via knockout at the 1:00 mark of Round 1 of their UFC 304 matchup.
Now 32, Aspinall has seven first-round stoppage wins and one second-round stoppage victory under the UFC banner. He has never gone past 1:09 of the second round in UFC action. Aspinall has earned seven “Performance of the Night” bonuses during his UFC run. The only win he has where he failed to pick up a post-fight bonus was his win over Baudot in 2020.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – DECEMBER 07: Ciryl Gane of France looks on before a heavyweight bout against Alexander Volkov of Russia during the UFC 310 event at T-Mobile Arena on December 07, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
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Ciryl Gane (13-2) is the No. 1 fighter in the official UFC heavyweight rankings. The 35-year-old French competitor has only lost in UFC title fights, falling to Francis Ngannou by decision in 2022 for the undisputed title, and losing to Jon Jones via submission in 2023 for the vacant belt. Gane did capture the interim heavyweight belt in 2021 with a knockout of Derrick Lewis.
Gane debuted with the UFC in 2019 following a Muay Thai career. He was 3-0 in MMA when he first fought inside the Octagon. Gane went 7-0 to begin his UFC career. His first loss came in a title unification bout against Ngannou.
Gane enters UFC 321 on a two-fight winning streak. He defeated Serghei Spivac by TKO in September 2023. In his most recent trip to the Octagon, Gane bested Alexander Volkov via decision at UFC 310.
Tom Aspinall Named UFC Heavyweight Champ
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 08: UFC CEO Dana White holds a press conference after the UFC 313 event at T-Mobile Arena on March 08, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
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In June, then-UFC heavyweight champ Jon Jones retired. The UFC named Aspinall the undisputed champion at that time.
“Jon Jones called us last night and retired. Jon Jones is officially retired. Tom Aspinall is the heavyweight champion of the UFC,” White said during the post-fight press conference following the UFC Baku fight card.
“I obviously feel bad for Tom that he lost all that time and money, but we’ll make it up to him,” White added. “Tom Aspinall is a good guy. He’s been incredible through this whole process that we’ve gone through. He’s been willing to do anything – fight him anywhere at any time and do this. Now he’s like, ‘I’ll fight anybody. Tell me who and I’ll fight him.’ Aspinall has been great. He’s going to be a great heavyweight champion for us and I’m excited to work with him.”
“International Fight Week starts Monday in Las Vegas,” White continued. “Tom will be in Vegas all week with us, so we’ll get together with him and figure out what’s next.”
Tom Aspinall Was The Longest Serving UFC Interim Champion
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – APRIL 13: UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall attends the UFC 300 event at T-Mobile Arena on April 13, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
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Aspinall won the interim UFC heavyweight crown in November 2023 with a knockout victory over Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295. Aspinall took that fight on short notice when the original main event for that card, Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic for Jones’s heavyweight title was scrapped following an injury to Jones.
Despite Aspinall winning the interim crown, UFC CEO Dana White remained steadfast in saying that Jones vs. Miocic was the fight to make.
That fight did not take place until November 2024. Jones held on to his belt that night, beating Miocic by TKO in the third round. By that time, Aspinall had already defended his interim crown, scoring a first-round knockout win over Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 in July 2024.
Aspinall, who has not fought since he defeated Blaydes, had been waiting for the title unification bout with Jones since Jones’s win over Miocic in November. In late April, Aspinall became the longest-serving UFC interim champion, topping the 535-day reign of Renan Barao, who defended his interim title twice before being named undisputed champion.
We will have more on UFC 321 as fight night nears.
