UFC president Dana White has revealed that the promotion originally wanted Tom Aspinall and Alex Pereira to fight for the undisputed UFC heavyweight title at UFC Freedom 250. However, those plans changed after Aspinall suffered an eye injury in his last fight and was unable to compete.
White Confirms Aspinall Was First Choice
Speaking to TNT Sports ahead of the White House event, White explained that the UFC had hoped to put together one of the biggest fights available in the sport. "100%. That would have been the fight if he was (healthy)," White said when asked about the possibility of Aspinall facing Pereira. White also noted that injuries have created challenges across several UFC divisions, and putting major fights together often depends on timing, health, and availability. "Right now, a lot of our champions are hurt right now. So it's kind of funky, there's a lot of things you have to deal with when you're making these matches, with timing and everything else going in everyone's life, injuries. But yeah, it would have been Tom."
Interim Title Fight Set
With Aspinall unavailable, the UFC moved forward with Pereira versus Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight championship. The winner is expected to move closer to a future showdown with Aspinall once he is medically cleared to compete again. The change has left many fans wondering what comes next for the heavyweight division. While an interim champion will be crowned this weekend, questions remain about when Aspinall will return and whether he will face the winner to unify the belts.
Aspinall's Contract Issues
Still, there is another issue surrounding the heavyweight champion. Recently, Aspinall's manager Eddie Hearn publicly said that his client is unhappy and underpaid. Hearn also suggested that the UFC should release the champion from his contract. As of now, the UFC has not indicated that it plans to do that. The promotion's goal remains to bring Aspinall back and eventually match him against the winner of Pereira versus Gane in a title unification bout.
For now, fans will have to wait and see how the situation develops. What is clear is that Dana White viewed Aspinall versus Pereira as the headline fight for UFC Freedom 250 before injury forced the company to make other plans.
