Heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall will have a close eye on the UFC Freedom 250 interim title bout between former two-division titleholder Alex Pereira and former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane.
While still recovering from being double eye poked while facing Gane at UFC 321 last October, Aspinall expects to take on the winner later this year. He praised Pereira as a ‘generational talent,’ but questioned whether the Brazilian will carry his punching power to the heavyweight division.
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“First of all, he’s an absolute generational talent, Alex Pereira. If he wins this fight, even though it’s an interim title, it’ll be the first person ever to win three different weights, which is unbelievable,” Aspinall said on Fight Your Corner.
“He’s massive. First of all, I have no idea how he made middleweight because he’s like my height. So, he’s maybe a little bit shorter than me, 6’4, 6’5. Massive weight cuts and now he’s fighting at heavyweight.”
“He carries a lot of power a light heavy and middle, but he’s also fighting a lot smaller guys whose punch resistance is a lot less. So, in my opinion, a big factor in why he’s knocking these guys out is because he’s a lot bigger than them,” Aspinall continued. “And a guy like Ciryl Gane, who’s used to taking punches off big, big heavyweights, he didn’t get hurt off Francis Ngannou for five rounds, which is one of the biggest punchers in the division. I don’t know if his punch resistance will be as good at heavyweight.
“Also, Alex Pereira is very good when he fights light heavyweights and middleweights who don’t move a lot. Ciryl Gane is a massive heavyweight who moves a lot, moves really well, really, really fluid on his feet, moves in and out, judges distance really well and stuff like that.”
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Aspinall struggled to pick a winner but believed the matchup favors Gane. But there’s an aspect he thinks Periera brings to the table that could give the Frenchman trouble.
“Stylistically I think it’s a good matchup for Gane. That being said, Gane doesn’t like leg kicks. He doesn’t fare well against leg kicks. He’s a good kicker, but if someone kicks him, like his leg kick defense isn’t great,” Aspinall said. “Alex Pereira, unbelievable leg kicker. Like his calf kicks. He slows people down. That’s how he sets up the left hook is the kicks to the calf, stops the movement a little bit and then comes in with the left hook.”
“I think, honestly, the Gane and Pereira fight, I struggle to pick a winner at this stage to be honest,” Aspinall said. “It’s a tough one to call, mate. Tough one to call. I would say Gane by points. I think he’s just going to move too much for him and beat him on points.”
