Dana White Says Ciryl Gane Must Still Fight for Undisputed Heavyweight Title

Ciryl Gane holds the interim UFC heavyweight belt, but Dana White has made it crystal clear that holding interim gold does not mean collecting the real thing by default.

Asked whether Gane would be elevated to undisputed champion following Tom Aspinall's decision to vacate the title over ongoing eye damage, White shut the door with three words: "No. He's still got to fight." The statement, reported by LowKick MMA and MMA Mania, breaks with the precedent set when Aspinall himself moved from interim to undisputed status after Jon Jones retired.

White added that Gane will fight for the vacant belt "very soon," though no opponent, date or venue has been announced. Alexander Volkov is considered a potential candidate given his ranking, but nothing is official.

The decision arrives as Gane faces heat from multiple corners. Alex Pereira, who lost the interim title to Gane at UFC Freedom 250, posted an Instagram graphic mocking Gane's championship losses to Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones, captioning it with a sarcastic "Champion" and three laughing emojis, per Sherdog. Former UFC and Strikeforce title challenger Josh Thomson went further on the Weighing In podcast, calling Gane a "serial cheater" and citing what he described as "10-15 notable foul incidents" since Gane joined the UFC, including eye pokes, groin shots and illegal elbows, per LowKick MMA.

Gane's controversial no-contest against Aspinall at UFC 321, which ended via an eye poke in the second round and led directly to Aspinall's retirement from competition, remains the backdrop to all of it. White is not interested in handing anyone a belt. The next heavyweight champion will have to earn it inside the cage.