Phil De Fries, the KSW heavyweight champion and training partner of Tom Aspinall, has revealed that Ciryl Gane's coach attempted to recruit him ahead of Gane's fight with Aspinall last year. The bout, which took place in Abu Dhabi in October, ended in a no-contest after Gane landed multiple eye pokes on Aspinall.
De Fries told TalkSport that Gane's coach messaged him asking for help preparing for Aspinall. 'I was like: I train with Tom every day, mate!' De Fries said. He added that he informed the coach of his close ties to Team Aspinall, leading to a light-hearted exchange. De Fries noted that while he receives many such requests, he would require significant compensation to leave home and train with unfamiliar fighters.
Following the no-contest, Aspinall underwent double eye surgery and has only recently returned to training. Meanwhile, Gane is set to face Alex Pereira for the interim heavyweight title at the White House in June. A rematch between Gane and Aspinall remains a possibility, though Gane's team is unlikely to approach De Fries again.
In preparation for Pereira, a former middleweight and two-time light-heavyweight champion, Gane has been training with Artem Vakhitov. Vakhitov previously defeated Pereira in Glory kickboxing, outpointing the Brazilian to avenge an earlier decision loss. If Pereira beats Gane, he will become the first three-weight champion in UFC history, albeit with an interim title in the third division. Conversely, Gane would become a two-time UFC interim heavyweight champion by defeating Pereira.
Gane, 36, previously held the interim heavyweight title in 2021 but failed to unify the belts against former training partner Francis Ngannou in 2022. He also lost an undisputed title fight in 2023, being quickly submitted by Jon Jones.
