The obvious next opponent for Aspinall should be Gane, who seemed to be in control of the fight during the first round before the accidental eye poke.
Given the lack of a decisive result, fans will undoubtedly want to see what Aspinall and Gane can do under different circumstances.
If Aspinall retains in a potential rematch against Gane, Alexander Volkov could be next after Volkov beat Jailton Almeida in the second fight on the main card of UFC 321 by split decision to establish himself as the next contender for the heavyweight title.
Aspinall had defeated Volkov via first-round submission in their previous meeting in March 2022. While he likely won’t be very excited about a rematch, he will have to be at his best against Volkov, who has now won five of his last six fights.
If UFC chooses to go in a different direction, there aren’t many fighters remaining who Aspinall hasn’t already fought. However, veteran knockout artist Derrick Lewis is one of the most popular fighters in the heavyweight division, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he would skip the line for the next title shot.
Lewis most recently stopped the hype train of the previously undefeated Tallison Teixeira with a first-round TKO win in July, which extended his UFC record for most knockout victories (16). Matching him up against Aspinall would create a battle of two of the best power punchers in the heavyweight division.
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