Tom Aspinall was left to becry the “bull****” ending to his UFC 321 title fight on Saturday, after he was poked in the eyes by Ciryl Gane.
Britain’s Aspinall was defending the undisputed heavyweight title for the first time, in a main event in Abu Dhabi, when he was poked in both eyes at the same time in the first round.
• Follow live: UFC 321 fallout and fury after Gane eye poke ends Aspinall title fight
That foul by Gane led to a customary pause in the action of five minutes maximum, but after Aspinall was checked on by the referee and a doctor, it was deemed that he could not continue.
As such, the fight was declared a No Contest due to an “accidental foul”, and fans in the Etihad Arena reacted to the unexpected ending by booing.
“I just got poked knuckled-deep in the eyeball,” said Aspinall, 32, in his post-fight interview in the cage. “What the f***, why are you booing? What am I supposed to do about it? I didn’t do the poke, I can’t see!
“This is bulls***. The fight was just getting going. Look at this, a double eye poke,” he continued, motioning at a slow-motion replay on the big screen.
Gane, 35, was also subjected to boos as he conducted his post-fight interview in the Octagon. “I’m very sorry about this,” he said, “for the crowd, for Tom Aspinall, for myself. This is the sport.”
UFC president Dana White later said Aspinall had been transported to a local hospital, and hinted that the promotion would arrange a rematch as soon as possible.
Wigan’s Aspinall had last fought in July 2024, knocking out Curtis Blaydes in 60 seconds to retain the interim heavyweight belt in Manchester, having made the rare decision to defend it.
Gane, meanwhile, entered UFC 321 on the back of a controversial decision victory against Alexander Volkov in December.
