“You will have to face me before” - Ciryl Gane's UFC title aspirations hit roadblock amidst trendy fighter's Twitter confrontation

Jailton Almeida attempted to shut down former interim UFC heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane’s callout toward Tom Aspinall.

At UFC 295, Tom Aspinall capitalized on a short-notice opportunity by securing a first-round knockout against Sergei Pavlovich for the interim UFC heavyweight title. Although Jon Jones is still the king of the division, a massive target is now placed on Aspinall’s back.

Following Aspinall’s impressive win, number one-ranked Ciryl Gane called out the new interim heavyweight champion by saying this on Twitter:

“Congratulations, Tom. You are now the champion and become the one being pursued, and I am the hunter. See you soon”

Number seven-ranked Jailton Almeida saw Ciryl Gane’s callout toward Tom Aspinall and doesn’t believe the matchup should be next. Almeida responded to Gane on Twitter by saying:

“I have bad news for you, my friend. You will have to face me before! @Mickmaynard2 @danawhite”

Ciryl Gane fought under the UFC banner for the first time in August 2019. He separated himself from the rest by winning eight consecutive fights, including four inside the distance. Since then, ‘Bon Gamin’ has won two of his last four bouts, with losses against Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones in world title fights.

Gane last fought and defeated Sergei Spivac with a second-round knockout on September 2.

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Tom Aspinall believes Ciryl Gane should fight Jailton Almeida next

Shortly after defeating Sergei Pavlovich, Tom Aspinall sat down for a post-fight press conference. During the Q&A, Aspinall was asked about Ciryl Gane’s callout, which he shut down due to Gane not wanting to fight him earlier this year.

Aspinall also suggested that Gane should fight Jailton Almeida next. As a result, Almeida went on Twitter and had this to say about potentially fighting ‘Bon Gamin’:

“The champ already said Bon Gamin. The time is now. Me and you. Almeida vs Gane and the winner go to the title! Lets do it! Can be in France, can be in Brazil, can be in Saudit Arabia, can be UFC 300, anyplace, any time @ciryl_gane @Mickmaynard2 @danawhite”

Jailton Almeida made his UFC debut in February 2022 after earning a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series. Almeida quickly established himself as a potential title contender with six consecutive wins between light heavyweight and heavyweight, including five inside the distance.

Almeida last fought on November 4, defeating Derrick Lewis by unanimous decision to take another step toward obtaining UFC gold.