Dana White: Ciryl Gane's Path to Undisputed Champion

Tom Aspinall has stepped aside. Ciryl Gane has a belt around his waist. Yet the UFC heavyweight division still doesn’t have an undisputed king.

UFC CEO Dana White made that crystal clear.

Aspinall, who suffered an eye injury in his title fight with Gane at UFC 321 last October, remains on the shelf and nowhere near ready to compete. While he’s been recovering, Gane captured the interim heavyweight title by defeating Alex Pereira at UFC Freedom 250, setting up what looked like an obvious rematch to settle the argument at the top of the division.

That rematch isn’t happening any time soon.

With his recovery dragging on, Aspinall announced he would vacate his title, removing his name from the immediate picture and opening the door for the UFC to move on without him.

White has now done exactly that — at least in principle.

“Does it make (Gane) the undisputed champion? No. He’s still gotta fight,” White told Sportsnet, underlining that the Frenchman’s new status comes with an asterisk until he wins again.

The message was blunt: interim or not, Gane hasn’t crossed the final line.

White confirmed that Gane will have his next assignment announced “soon,” and that bout is expected to decide the new undisputed heavyweight champion. The promotion, he stressed, has been here before.

“We’ll see how this whole thing plays out with Aspinall,” White said. “Ciryl will fight, and we’ll see who becomes the champion. I mean, this isn’t the first time this has ever happened. It’s happening right now with Valentina Shevchenko too, so this is nothing now. This happens sometimes. It’s unfortunate; it’s not the best outcome, but it is what it is.”

So who stands across from Gane when the lights go down and the title finally loses its “interim” tag?

Alex Pereira has already thrown himself back into the conversation. The former opponent recently posed for a photo after a meeting with UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell, a snapshot that instantly set social media buzzing about an immediate rematch with Gane. Since their clash at UFC Freedom 250, Pereira has repeatedly voiced his anger over how the fight played out, accusing Gane of landing multiple punches to the back of his head.

A second chapter between the two would come loaded with controversy, storylines, and a ready-made promotional hook.

The rankings offer other options. In the official UFC heavyweight media list, Alexander Volkov sits at No. 2 behind Gane, with Sergei Pavlovich at No. 3. Both bring imposing frames, knockout power, and enough momentum to make a title fight feel legitimate rather than improvised.

Then there’s No. 4 Josh Hokit, another name gaining traction as a fresh challenger who could be vaulted into the spotlight if the UFC decides the division needs new blood rather than a rerun.

For now, the belt is in motion, not in stone. Aspinall’s injury and decision to vacate have ripped up the original script and handed Gane a different kind of pressure: he owns a title, but not yet the throne. The next matchup the UFC inks for him won’t just fill a main-event slot — it will decide who gets to call himself the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.