"I'm pretty angry mate"- Tom Aspinall doubles down on Ciryl Gane criticism following controversial eye poke ending at UFC 321

Tom Aspinall’s clash with Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi ended at the 4:35 mark of the opening round after an accidental eye poke left the heavyweight champion unable to continue. The bout was ruled a no-contest despite a solid start where both men traded clean strikes.

In the aftermath, Aspinall made it clear his anger was not aimed at the sport or the situation but squarely at Gane. He explained that injuries from legal techniques are part of fighting, but losing one's vision due to an illegal action carries a different emotional weight.

In an exclusive interview with Adam Catterall, Aspinall said:

“Yeah, I’m pretty angry mate. I’m pretty angry about it. Mainly [at] Ciryl]. Yeah, I think mainly Ciryl yeah. I’ve never accidentally done something in a fight. I don’t see how you can really, so I’ll leave it at that."

Get the latest updates on One Championship Rankings at Sportskeeda and more

He added:

“I’m still under the notion like if someone’s fouling, if they do it once, you can deem it as an accident. If they do it twice, pause. The other person’s allowed a foul as well... We’re fighting, you kick me in the nuts once. The ref gives you five minutes whatever to recover however long they give. We restart, you do it again, the ref says, 'You stand there, open your legs, he gets a free one.'”

Check out Tom Aspinall's comments below (10:35):

Aspinall is currently recovering from eye surgery related to a rare condition caused by the incident and is not yet cleared to compete.

---

Tom Aspinall shares recovery update after UFC 321 no contest

Tom Aspinall has not fought since October, when his bout with Ciryl Gane ended in a no-contest after a severe eye poke. Aspinall has since consulted multiple specialists and undergone surgery, with another procedure scheduled for mid-January.

The diagnosis of bilateral traumatic Brown’s syndrome has slowed his recovery and ruled out an immediate return to training. In a return video posted on his YouTube channel, Aspinall said:

“By the time this is going out, I’ll probably have had surgery on one side already. Next surgery is coming mid-January. So, we’re working toward getting back. That’s the plan. The guy was cheating from the first second, and the way he wanted to win that fight was to have me compromised by cheating,” Aspinall said earlier this month… Obviously, I’m very keen very keen to get back and beat this guy up, but I’ve got to be 100 percent right. So, whenever the eye’s good to go, that’s when I’ll do it.”

Edited by Abhishek Nambiar