Ciryl Gane has made history for France.

On Saturday night during the broadcast for UFC 331, it was announced that Gane had been upgraded from interim to undisputed champion following Tom Aspinall‘s decision to vacate the heavyweight title.

Ciryl Gane of France strikes Alex Pereira of Brazil in the UFC interim heavyweight championship fight during the UFC Freedom 250 event on the South Lawn at the White House on June 14, 2026 in Washington, DC
Gane stopped Pereira on the South Lawn of the White House in June to win the interim heavyweight title
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Gane won the interim heavyweight belt with a second-round knockout of Alex Pereira at the UFC White House event in June.

He previously fought Aspinall for the undisputed strap at UFC 321, but the bout was declared a no-contest after a double eye poke from Gane rendered the champion unable to continue.

Multiple eye surgeries and an extended layoff following the foul resulted in the British fighter giving up his title.

“What makes this particularly difficult is that many of the complications I’m dealing with are a result of fouls that changed the course of my career,” Aspinall said in a statement released on social media on Monday.

“Fighters rely on officials to enforce the rules and protect us in those moments, and it’s hard to still be dealing with the consequences today.”

Many will feel the UFC’s decision to upgrade Gane is wrong, due to the implications of his foul.

Gane’s first defence

However, ‘Bon Gamin’ is now the undisputed king regardless of opinion, and is set to make the first defence of his strap against No.6-ranked contender Josh Hokit at UFC 334 on November 14.

The heavyweight titans will top a bumper card at New York’s Madison Square Garden, co-headlined by a rescheduled women’s super fight between Kayla Harrison and Amanda Nunes.

Unbeaten American, Hokit, has become a controversial figure in MMA circles for his WWE-shtick and unhinged rants.

After finishing Derrick Lewis on the South Lawn of the White House last time out in June, Hokit made disparaging remarks about former First Lady Michelle Obama, much to the dismay of UFC president Dana White.

Tom Aspinall struggling to see in the Octagon after a double-eye poke from Ciryl Gane
Gane has been elevated after leaving predecessor Aspinall sidelined with eye injuries
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Josh Hokit speaks to Joe Rogan following his win in a heavyweight fight during the UFC Freedom 250 event
Gane will make his first defence against Hokit at UFC 334 in November
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Reacting to the news that Hokit is fighting Gane for the heavyweight title, White said: “I got a lot of thoughts on that…

“I literally don’t f****** like anything Josh Hokit says. I’m going to have to deal with that.”

Gane makes UFC history for France

Gane is now the first French-born athlete to win an undisputed UFC belt.

He became the first Frenchman to hold an interim title by knocking out Lewis at UFC 265 in August 2021 but failed to win his next undisputed bout against Francis Ngannou five months later.

After bouncing back with a stoppage win over Tai Tuivasa in 2022, Gane then lost his second chance at an undisputed title against Jon Jones in March 2023.

He subsequently scored back-to-back wins over top-ranked heavyweight contenders Serghei Spivac and Alexander Volkov before falling at his third attempt against Aspinall.

talkSPORT's UFC pound-for-pound rankings

talkSPORT.com has collectively voted on the best fighters to form a regularly updated UFC pound-for-pound (P4P) rankings system for the rest of 2026 and beyond.

Our P4P list will be updated regularly based on performances in the Octagon — with wins, records, title wins and defences, calibre of opponents, methods of victory and much more all determining who makes it.

UFC champions Islam Makhachev, Tom Aspinall and Sean Strickland feature – but big stars such as Alex Pereira and Arman Tsarukyan miss out.