Ciryl Gane's coach claims Tom Aspinall "has more pressure on him" than any fighter over the past decade ahead of UFC 321

Coach Fernand Lopez recently shared his thoughts on Tom Aspinall fighting his pupil Ciryl Gane next. He claimed that the Englishman will be under immense pressure going into his first title defense as the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion, more than any other fighter over the last decade.

Aspinall is set to face Gane in the main event of UFC 321 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi in October. After Jon Jones' retirement last month, the then-interim heavyweight titleholder Aspinall was promoted to full champion.

The Englishman notably chased a high-profile title unification fight against Jones for months, but to no avail. After an extended time away from action, Aspinall will finally face Gane, who is on a two-fight win streak.

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In an interview with Ariel Helwani, Lopez shared his two cents on the fight and explained why Aspinall will be under tremendous pressure to perform, saying:

"Tom Aspinall has more pressure on him than any other fighter has experienced in the last decade. Could you imagine what would happen if Aspinall does not deliver on October 25? That will be beyond an embarrassment. This is a lot of pressure that you don't want to take on your shoulders... I think when they get locked up in the cage, you will understand why Ciryl Gane was in that silence."

Tom Aspinall wants to eliminate Ciryl Gane from heavyweight title conversation for good at UFC 321

Tom Aspinall recently spoke about his upcoming fight against Ciryl Gane and claimed he's looking to remove the Frenchman from any future title fight conversations.

In an interview with MMA Junkie, Aspinall pointed out that Gane has had two title opportunities in the past and made it clear that he intends to make the Frenchman's third attempt his last. He said:

"This is the fourth time that we've been matched up together. Me and Ciryl got into the UFC around about the same time... Now we are matched up, on the 25th of October, Abu Dhabi. Me and Ciryl, the fourth attempt is here, and this is Ciryl's third title shot. So, we are going to try and get rid of Ciryl Gane from the title picture for good."

He continued:

"We both have a niche style for heavyweights. We don't fight like heavyweights, both of us. So, this could be the fastest, the best-moving heavyweight fight that anybody's ever seen. We're both great movers, we're both light on our feet, we're both elusive, so, this is going to be great." [H/t: MMA Junkie]

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Edited by Nishant Zende.