While there is paramount respect for both mixed martial artists, a former undercard fighter on a Ciryl Gane event sees the French fighter faltering against Tom Aspinall this weekend. Khalid Taha is the fighter in question and he expressed this ahead of his clash with Edgar Delgado Jimenez at Oktagon 75 on September 13th.
Taha appeared on Bowks Talking Bouts and we reflected back on when he fought on the UFC Paris card that was headlined by Ciryl Gane against Tai Tuivasa. When asked for his thoughts on the Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane heavyweight title fight at UFC 321 on October 25th, Taha said,
Honestly, both are very, very well-rounded and talented heavyweights. Both move like welterweights. They are both huge monsters and I like the striking of both, but I'm leaning towards [Tom] Aspinall."
"Because Aspinall is in my eyes like a more aggressive fighter, you know. He's looking more for the finish. Ciryl Gane is like; he moves a lot."
"He moves very nice, very well. He has very good boxing, very good kicks, sidekicks, teeps, everything. But I see Aspinall is like in his total prime. He's going to go forward and gonna go for the finish I think.
Tom Aspinall looks to do "what a champion should do" while working in a bit of a Jon Jones dig
Tom Aspinall looks to notch this first undisputed UFC title defense after previously defending his interim strap last year and then seek becoming an active champion thereafter. The UK combatant also worked in a slight bit of a crack at the former champion Jon Jones with their infamous saga playing out in such a way where Aspinall was kept sidelined waiting for clarification on if a 'Bones' title unification fight would happen and for a cartoonishly long time period.
During a conversation with UFC Europe, the reigning UFC champion was touching on how excited he was to return after Tom Aspinall has been out of action for over a year now, as Aspinall stated [via Bloody Elbow],
I’ve always been in the gym, but it’s nice to have a goal — to have an opponent. I just want to be the champion who fights often, regularly, and fights the best guys."
"I don’t wanna be one of those guys who take big breaks in between, ’cause that’s what happened. Nothing to do with me."
"I’m ready to put a stop to that — be active, be an active champion, be a defending champion, and fight the best guys, number one contenders. And that’s what a champion should do — fight the number one contenders.