Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Gane are officially on the road to their heavyweight championship clash.
The UFC 321 headliners faced off for the first time Friday in Paris following a press conference to build up to the Oct. 25 main event matchup, which takes place in Abu Dhabi.
Watch video of the staredown below.
There were few verbal fireworks during the press conference and that carried over to the faceoff, which began with a respectful handshake. Aspinall and Gane have campaigned to fight one another for years, but there was little animosity between them as they stood a few inches away from each other.
Aspinall (15-3) defends the undisputed UFC heavyweight title for the first time after carrying interim status for the past two years. He was elevated to undisputed status following the retirement of Jon Jones, who stepped away from competition as champion this past June.
Gane (13-2) is also a former interim champion, though he has fallen short twice in two attempts to become undisputed. At UFC 270, Gane lost a decision to Francis Ngannou, and then at UFC 285 with Ngannou out of the picture, Gane was submitted in a little over two minutes by Jones, who captured a vacant belt.
