New interim UFC heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane reacted after knocking out Alex Pereira at UFC Freedom 250.
In what was one of the most impressive performances on a card full of them, Gane won the interim UFC heavyweight strap with a brutal second-round TKO win over Pereira.
The win over Pereira has stamped Gane’s path forward to a rematch against rival Tom Aspinall, whom he battled last October at UFC 321 in a fight that ended via No Contest after Gane accidentally poked Aspinall in the eye. Aspinall has not fought since then, but will hopefully be cleared to compete by the end of 2026, setting up a massive UFC heavyweight title unification bout against Gane.
Ciryl Gane Reacts to Awesome Knockout Win at UFC White House
Speaking to the UFC following his title-winning performance, Gane shared his reaction to his awesome knockout win over Pereira.
“Really great feeling. Was beautiful, the most beautiful thing was because it was in the White House. It’s just beautiful to have the belt in the White House against a really great champion like Pereira. It was a really beautiful night for me,” Gane said.
While many analysts felt that Gane would use his wrestling since he had a grappling advantage over Pereira, he instead chose to stand and trade, and it worked out in his favor as he got the knockout and won a $425,000 Performance of the Night bonus for it.
“People like to say I’m a really good striker, but me and my team, we know I’m a good wrestler, also. It doesn’t happen during the fight, but I guess it was possible, so that was the strategy. But we were prepared to finish the fight with the ground game,” Gane said.
Ciryl Gane (@ciryl_gane) claims interim @UFC gold once again by defeating Alex Pereira at #UFCWhiteHouse
Results ➡️ t.co/4gnn4tCvBC
[ UFC Freedom 250 presented by @cryptocom & @ramtrucks ]
Timeline for Ciryl Gane vs. Tom Aspinall 2
Right now, we do not have a timetable for the rematch between Gane and Aspinall, unfortunately, because Aspinall has still not been cleared to return to the cage following the eye injury that he suffered against Gane last fall.
The hope is that Aspinall will be cleared to get back to sparring by the year’s end, which will hopefully allow the UFC to book this matchup between him and Gane to unify the UFC heavyweight belts.
In the first meeting between the two rivals last fall, Aspinall was a huge favorite, but he certainly did not look the part as Gane won the early striking exchanges before the eye poke.
In the rematch, look for Aspinall to once again open as the betting favorite, but expect the odds to be closer this time around after he put on a great showing against Pereira at UFC Freedom 250.
It will certainly be a very intriguing matchup when Gane and Aspinall meet inside the Octagon later this year, and the rematch can’t come soon enough. So hopefully, Aspinall’s eye can get healed up in short order so the UFC matchmakers can book this highly-anticipated bout before the year 2026 is up, so the heavyweight division can get moving again.
Ciryl Gane Reacts to Alex Pereira Knockout at UFC Freedom 250