When the UFC unveiled the lineup for Freedom 250 (official title of the White House card) during the UFC 326 broadcast, one matchup stood out immediately: Alex Pereira moving up to face Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title. It’s a fascinating clash of elite strikers in the heaviest weight division. But the bigger ripple effect sits with the man who currently holds the undisputed belt, Tom Aspinall.

The British champion is still recovering from the eye injury that ended his UFC 321 fight with Gane in a no-contest, and there’s no firm timetable for his return. That uncertainty has left the UFC in a holding pattern. Instead of stripping the champion outright, the promotion opted to keep the division active. Boss Dana White made that connection clear during the broadcast while discussing the co-main event with Joe Rogan.

“Moving up and taking on a guy like Ciryl Gane, the way that these two strike, it’s going to be very, very interesting,” White said. “And should he win the fight, then we figure out what’s going on with Tom Aspinall, and it could be him versus Aspinall.”

The interim label, however, raises obvious questions. If ‘Poatan’ wins, does the UFC immediately book a unification bout with Aspinall? Or could circumstances shift again, depending on the champion’s health?

That uncertainty is exactly what White’s comments hinted at. The promotion appears willing to wait, at least for now, to see whether Aspinall can return to the cage soon. If he does, the winner of Pereira vs. Gane becomes the natural challenger.

That shadow of doubt around Tom Aspinall’s future also came at a delicate moment in his relationship with the promotion. Just days before the White House card was revealed, the British heavyweight announced that he had signed with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Talent Agency for commercial representation. While the deal doesn’t affect his UFC contract, it immediately stirred conversation because of Hearn’s increasingly public rivalry with Dana White following the launch of Zuffa Boxing.

For the UFC, that development adds another layer to the current heavyweight situation. Aspinall is still the undisputed champion, but with his recovery timeline unclear and new representation now involved, negotiations around his return could become more complicated. In fact, Eddie Hearn has even come out with a public criticism of how the UFC handled the champion’s injury situation.

Eddie Hearn blasts UFC and Dana White for mishandling Tom Aspinall’s injury

Aspinall vs Gane at UFC 321 ended abruptly when eye pokes forced the champion out of the fight. What followed was far more serious than a routine foul. Aspinall required double eye surgery to repair the damage, an injury that reportedly could have permanently affected his vision if untreated. And according to Eddie Hearn, the UFC’s reaction didn’t sit well with the champion or him.

“There’s no loyalty in that game. Look at Aspinall,” Hearn said in an interview with The Stomping Ground. “He got his eyes gouged out, and he just gets humiliated by the UFC. They basically told everyone he’s a liar and he’s a p—-y. This is a cutthroat business.”

Eddie Hearn also criticized the Conor Benn situation, arguing that many UFC fighters feel underpaid compared to boxers despite generating significant revenue. For now, though, the immediate answer lies in the White House card.

Initially, the expectation around the event was for a headliner clash between Alex Pereira and Jon Jones, the same Jones, whose deliberate stalling kept Aspinall sidelined for a record 588 days as interim champion. But the UFC could not come to an agreement, and went with Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje as the headliner instead.

Pereira vs. Gane will co-headline one of the most unusual events in UFC history, and when that fight ends, the heavyweight title picture and Tom Aspinall’s place in it should finally start to come into focus.