Francis Ngannou has defended Tom Aspinall over the eye poke from Ciryl Gane that abruptly ended their UFC title fight.
In the main event of UFC 321 in October, Aspinall was defending the undisputed heavyweight title for the first time when Gane poked him in the eyes twice – both times in the first round. The latter poke affected both of Aspinall’s eyes, and although he was given five minutes to recover, he could not continue.
The bout in Abu Dhabi was ruled a No Contest, Aspinall was taken to hospital, and UFC president Dana White said a rematch would be booked at the earliest opportunity. However, it is understood that Aspinall is still suffering the effects of the foul.
Jon Jones last week criticised Aspinall, 32, for not continuing to fight, although the American received backlash for his comments; Jones opted to retire and vacate the UFC heavyweight title this summer instead of facing Aspinall, who was interim champion at the time and Jones’s natural next challenger.
Meanwhile, Ngannou – another former UFC heavyweight champion – has defended Aspinall over his decision to cease fighting against Gane, 35.
“I think that eye poke made a lot of news, more than the fight itself – more than the announcement of the fight,” Ngannou, 39, told TMZ. “It was a very controversial feeling.
“I understand that there was a lot of frustration, basically on the fans’ side. [They] were so excited to see the outcome, but there was definitely an eye poke and compromised vision for Tom.
“The eye poke is not like you get kicked in the b***s and you can recover and come back. It’s not like a pain; it compromises your vision. And if you’re doing a combat sport with compromised vision, it’s not good at all.
“What if your vision is compromised, then you keep going and – maybe because of that – something happens. You lose the fight, the same people will say how stupid you were, ‘You should’ve stopped, blah blah blah.’
“So, I think it’s just fan frustration, although there was an eye poke [which] should be respected. Not intentional of course, but there was an eye poke that definitely causes damage and affected vision.”
During Ngannou’s stint as UFC heavyweight champion from 2021 to 2022, the Cameroonian pushed for a fight with Jones, but the latter opted to remain on the sidelines instead. Jones had vacated the light-heavyweight belt in 2020 but did not return to the Octagon until 2023, when he submitted Gane to win the heavyweight title vacated by Ngannou, who at that point crossed into boxing.
Ngannou had outpointed Gane in 2022 to retain the UFC heavyweight belt in his final bout with the promotion, before losing boxing matches with Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. He then returned to mixed martial arts with the Professional Fighters League in 2024, winning more gold by stopping Renan Ferreira in round one.
Jones, 38, is now angling for a return to the sport in a possible fight with UFC light-heavyweight king Alex Pereira, potentially at the White House in June.
However, the American’s decisions not to fight Ngannou and Aspinall are seen by many fans and pundits as blotches on Jones’s legacy, which has also been affected by numerous failed drug tests and run-ins with the law.
