Tom Aspinall has said he has not been invited to the UFC’s White House event, despite his link to the co-main event.
On 14 June, the UFC will stage a unique event on the South Lawn, with Alex Pereira facing Ciryl Gane in the co-main event. The interim heavyweight title will be on the line in that fight, while Aspinall holds the regular belt.
Despite Aspinall’s link to Pereira vs Gane, he said on Fight Your Corner: “No, they’ve not asked me [to come]. 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?”
Should Gane win, Aspinall would be expected to face the Frenchman in a rematch of their October bout. On that night in Abu Dhabi, Gane’s multiple eye pokes led to a no-contest and forced Aspinall into double eye surgery. The Briton, 33, has since returned to training, although he is not yet back in full sparring.
“I’ve got a lot of unfinished business,” Aspinall said. “Like, me and Gane have got to get this rematch going, and then if I can get a massive fight like a Pereira fight as well, that’s [ideal].”
On another recent episode of Fight Your Corner, Aspinall had said: “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.”
If Pereira overcomes Gane, he will be crowned the first three-weight champion in UFC history – albeit with an interim title completing his set.
The Brazilian, 38, is a former middleweight and two-time light-heavyweight champion, and the ex-kickboxing star is recognised as a generational knockout specialist. Pereira ended his second reign as UFC light-heavyweight champion on his own terms, vacating the title in February to move up to heavyweight.
Meanwhile, Gane is a former interim heavyweight champion who has thrice failed to win the undisputed belt. The 36-year-old was outpointed by Francis Ngannou in 2022 and submitted by Jon Jones in 2023, before his no-contest with Aspinall in October.
Fight Your Corner is a Platform Media original show.
