Dana White has suggested that Tom Aspinall would have fought Alex Pereira at the White House this weekend, if the Briton had been healthy.
On Sunday, a unique UFC fight card will play out on the South Lawn, with the co-main event pitting Pereira against Ciryl Gane, as the pair vie over the interim heavyweight title.
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Aspinall is the official heavyweight champion, but he is still recovering from double eye surgery after an injury inflicted by Gane in October. Gane’s multiple eye pokes injured Aspinall, 33, and their title fight was ruled a no-contest.
Tom Aspinall, UFC heavyweight champion (Getty)
When asked whether Aspinall would have been fighting Pereira at the White House, had the Briton been fit, UFC president White told TNT Sports: “Oh, 100 per cent. That would’ve been the fight, if he was…
“You know, a lot of our champions are hurt right now, so it’s kind of a funky… There’s a lot of things you have to deal with when you’re making these matches.
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“With timing and everything else going on in everybody’s lives, injuries…
“But yeah, it would’ve been Tom.”
Instead, Gane will face former middleweight and two-time light-heavyweight champion Pereira.
If Pereira wins, the Brazilian will become the first three-weight champion in UFC history. Meanwhile, France’s Gane is aiming to become a two-time interim heavyweight champion.
Gane previously held the interim belt in 2021, and he has thrice failed to become the undisputed-title holder. The 36-year-old was outpointed by Francis Ngannou in 2022, submitted by Jon Jones in 2023, and fought Aspinall to a no-contest in October.
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Meanwhile, Pereira’s UFC run has been similarly scintillating to Aspinall’s. The Brazilian, 38, won the middleweight belt within a year of his UFC debut, before recording three successful title defences during his first reign as light-heavyweight champion.
Left to right: Alex Pereira, Ilia Topuria, Donald Trump, Justin Gaethje and Ciryl Gane (Getty)
It is expected that Aspinall will face the winner of Sunday’s co-main event, and he told Fight Your Corner recently: “I want revenge [against Gane] of course, but also, there’s an argument to say that me and Pereira would be a bigger fight.
“I don’t know, they’re both big fights, aren’t they? Pereira’s got a massive fanbase globally. I think they’re both tough fights, to be honest. I would say Gane [beats Pereira] by points; I think he’s just gonna move too much for him and beat him on points.”
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He also said: “No, they’ve not asked me [to come to the White House]. No one’s asked me yet. To be honest, I’ve never really thought about it until you asked me. No, I don’t feel disrespected. [But] they should come to me, I feel.
“I’d be there, I’d be there; if they asked me, I’d be there for sure. If they asked me, I would definitely go. I would [like to watch the fight up close]. I definitely would, yeah. There’s no excuses, I would. I have nothing to say otherwise, I would like to. I’m gonna watch it from home anyway, so if you’re there, it’s gonna be even better, isn’t it?”
