With Jon Jones Retired, Tom Aspinall Opens As Favorite Over Ciryl Gane

On Saturday night, UFC CEO Dana White announced that Jon Jones had officially retired from the UFC. White added that with Jones leaving the UFC, Tom Aspinall would be elevated from interim UFC heavyweight champion to undisputed champ. With that, speculation began as to who Aspinall would face in his first defense of that title. Oddsmakers seem to have landed on another former interim UFC heavyweight titleholder as Aspinall’s likely opponent. That man is Ciryl Gane.

Dana White On Jon Jones Retiring

"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 Saturday’s 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.”

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UFC Heavyweight Championship Opening Betting Odds: Tom Aspinall Vs. Ciryl Gane

SportsbettingAg jumped on the betting odds for a potential matchup between Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Gane. According to the site, Aspinall opened as the -300 betting favorite over the +250 Gane. Those odds have already shifted. As of this moment, Aspinall is listed at -350, while Gane is a +285 betting underdog.

Jon Jones’ UFC Heavyweight Legacy

A former UFC light heavyweight champion, Jones last defended that title in February 2020 with a decision win over Dominick Reyes. In August 2020, Jones surrendered that belt.

"Just got off the phone with UFC, today I confirm that I’m vacating the light heavyweight championship," Jones wrote on social media. “It's officially up for grabs. It's been an amazing journey, sincere thank you to all my competition, UFC and most importantly you fans.”

When Jones returned to action in Mach 2023, it was as a heavyweight. He defeated Ciryl Gane for the vacant UFC heavyweight title with a submission win. Jones defended the crown once, beating Miocic by TKO in November 2024.

Not long after Jones retired, a report from The Albuquerque Journal stated that a criminal summons accused the former UFC champ of leaving the scene of an accident in February, was filed Tuesday in Metropolitan Court. The charge is a a misdemeanor.

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Tom Aspinall Was The Longest Serving Interim Champion

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.

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Ciryl Gane

Ciryl Gane (13-2) is the No. 2 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. In his most recent trip to the Octagon, Gane defeated Alexander Volkov via split decision. That bout took place in December 2024.

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 is likely to move to No. 1 in the UFC rankings when they are updated, as Aspinall is currently in the No. 1 spot.

We will have more on who Tom Aspinall will face in his first UFC heavyweight title defense as news breaks.