Remember Carter Starocci’s UFC Fight Pass Wishlist way back in April 2023? The guy just nonchalantly broke down why he could easily take down the big names that the welterweight and lightweight divisions had to offer. “Leon Edwards is the champ and I’d take the belt from him,” Starocci said at the time. To put it in perspective, the NCAA wrestling superstar was still a Penn State Junior.
In his defense, it’s just the superior wrestling foundations talking, which see many wrestlers transition to MMA for a pro career. And vice versa, many MMA fighters are often seen brushing up on their wrestling basics to stay ahead of the pack. Well, such was the case for Ciryl Gane, the heavyweight grappler, who has a big fight coming up against champion Tom Aspinall. And the Frenchman decided to check in with the best in the business when it comes to wrestling.
The news of the collab was shared by Saturday Night Lights on August 11. “Ciryl Gane is training with Olympic champ Akhmed Tazhudinov ahead of his heavyweight title fight vs. Tom Aspinall on Oct 25 at UFC 321.” In the very short clip they shared, the MMA fighter and the Olympic Champion were seen grappling and sparring inside the Spartan Fitness gym Octagon in Holliston, Massachusetts.
Gane couldn’t have chosen a better guy. Akhmed Tazhudinov is the 2024 Paris Olympics champion in the 97 kg weight class. But that’s just scratching the surface. He is the 2023 Belgrade World Wrestling Champion and a two-time Asian Championships gold medalist. And now, for the big reveal, the freestyle wrestler is just 22 years old.
The guy is just a natural grappling machine. One thing Gane would want to pick up is Tazhudinov’s counters that the Olympian often used to score big points. Akhmed Tazhudinov isn’t just a 1.89m, 214 lb bulldozer; what makes him unique is his technical superiority and ability to anticipate his opponent. All these traits will definitely come in handy when Ciryl Gane goes one-on-one against Tom Aspinall in the UFC 321 at Abu Dhabi.
Ciryl Gane is training with Olympic champ Akhmed Tazhudinov ahead of his heavyweight title fight vs Tom Aspinall on Oct 25 at UFC 321 pic.twitter.com/NAYhWARcDG
— Saturday Night Lights (@WrestlingSNL) August 11, 2025
He is on a three-win streak and will be defending his Heavyweight Title against Gane. In turn, we will see if the third time’s the charm for the Frenchman, who has already had two shots at the title in 2022 and 2023. The sessions with Akhmed Tazhudinov will be enlightening.
And this is not the first time we are seeing a UFC-Olympian link-up. For the last couple of years, one NCAA gym has been playing host to MMA superstars.
Olympian coach mixing it up at his wrestling program
Not just an Olympian, the man we are talking about is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic gold medalist, David Taylor, the head coach of the Cowboys wrestling program. Since he took over, the Cowboys have had a massive transition in their NCAA fortunes. Is it also strategic that we often see Diego Lopes of the UFC Featherweight Division at OSU?
The first time we saw the Brazilian at the Oklahoma state premises was in January. Both Lopes and Taylor have the utmost respect for each other. After the visit, the Cowboys coach took to Instagram to share some of the pics from the sparring sessions. And the Olympian wrote, “His story is inspiring, and I’m glad he could share with the team.”
Credits: Instagram/@diegolopesmma
In turn, even the MMA star was in high spirits during his time at Stillwater. “Thanks coach @magicmanosu and all the guys at @cowboywrestling for all the support,” the UFC fighter wrote on Instagram. The 30-year-old was again back in June, this time even connecting with youngsters at the Gallagher-Iba Arena.
The MMA guys are certainly enjoying their time at the Cowboys RTC. Following in the footsteps of Lopes, Khamzat Chimaev of the UFC Middleweight Division was recently seen training with Olympian Cowboys RTC Roman Bravo-Young. Chimaev himself is undefeated, which only adds to the Cowboys’ and David Taylor’s growing reputation.
The post UFC Fighter Turns to Olympic Wrestling Legend for Tom Aspinall Fight appeared first on EssentiallySports.