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Tom Aspinall will return to the octagon for the first time in 15 months as he makes his maiden UFC undisputed heavyweight title defence against Ciryl Gane. The Manchester-born fighter headlines UFC 321 on Saturday against the Frenchman in his first fight since July 2024 where he finished Curtis Blaydes to defend his then-interim title . Aspinall, 32, was expected to fight then-undisputed champion Jon Jones next but the American relinquished his belt and announced his retirement from the sport. The heavyweight was subsequently promoted to undisputed champion to become just the third British fighter to capture a UFC title, after Michael Bisping and Leon Edwards. Aspinall's clash against the Frenchman is the third time Gane has fought for the heavyweight title. The 35-year-old came up short in previous bouts against Francis Ngannou and Jones. It's been 10 months since Gane's last fight which was a split decision victory over Alexander Volkov and could be his last opportunity to fight for the title unless he goes on a tear through the division. It's Aspinall's first time headlining a numbered event in the MMA promotion as Manchester Evening News provides all the information for fans wanting to tune into the event. UFC 321 will take place on Saturday, October 25, at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. It'll be the first time since Aspinall's TKO victory over Alan Baudot in 2020 that he'll compete in the United Arab Emirates. The preliminary card of UFC 321 begins at 5pm UK time and will be broadcast live on TNT Sports 4 and TNT Sports Box Office. Coverage of the main card, which is exclusively live on TNT Sports Box Office at the cost of £19.99, commences at 7pm. Viewers are not required to possess a TNT subscription to buy the pay-per-view. The event is also available to be purchased through discovery+, EE TV, Virgin Media, Amazon Prime Video, and Sky Sports. For those wanting to stream the prelims, they can do so via discovery+ and UFC Fight Pass. Main card Tom Aspinall v Ciryl Gane Virna Jandiroba vs Mackenzie Dern Umar Nurmagomedov vs Mario Bautista Alexander Volkov vs Jailton Almeida Aleksandar Rakic vs Azamat Murzakanov Preliminary card Nasrat Haqparast vs Quillan Salkilld Ludovit Klein vs Mateusz Rebecki Ikram Aliskerov vs Park Jun-yong Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady vs Matheus Camilo Valter Walker vs Louie Sutherland Nathaniel Wood vs Jose Miguel Delgado Early preliminary card Hamdy Abdelwahab vs Chris Barnett Azat Maksum vs Mitch Raposo Jaqueline Amorim vs Mizuki Inoue
