"Strip him for acting" - MMA world reacts as Tom Aspinall shares picture of his eyes after UFC 321 eye-poke

The fallout from Tom Aspinall’s no-contest against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 continues to divide opinion across the MMA world. The heavyweight title fight ended abruptly after Gane accidentally poked Aspinall in both eyes late in the first round, leaving the champion unable to continue.

The referee and cageside physician ruled the bout a no-contest. Aspinall later shared an image of his reddened eyes, sparking reactions ranging from sympathy to mockery. One fan wrote:

"The only redness is from him forcing a cloth into the corner as hard as he could. Lol, we’ve seen what eye injuries are in the UFC. This isn’t it. When the doctors said there were zero problems. Dana should strip him for acting."

Meanwhile, other fans wrote:

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"He’s perfectly fine. 3 doctors said he’s fine. He faced adversity and took an out." "Literally nothing wrong with his eyes other than extremely minor irritation from putting a rag with an ice cube on it for an extended period of time." "Tom should have kept this footage to himself." "Bro knows he blew it, he tryna save face with the fans, but it’s over. Nobody wants to see him anymore." "Speaking as someone who suffered permanent eye damage from sports, he’s fine. My pupils are two different sizes from blunt trauma, so it’s definitely no joke when it comes to eye injuries. I don’t like this guy, but 5 mins probably wasn’t enough to come back from that deep poke."

Check out some of the fan reactions below:

Fans react to Tom Aspinall's eye injury. [Screenshots courtesy: @HappyPunch on X]

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Tom Aspinall’s father calls for change after UFC 321

Tom Aspinall’s long-awaited return at UFC 321 ended in disappointment after an early eye poke from Ciryl Gane stopped the fight before it truly began. The bout was declared a no-contest, leaving the heavyweight title picture seemingly unresolved.

In the aftermath, Andy Aspinall urged the UFC to review footage and track fighters responsible for repeated fouls. Speaking on Tom's YouTube channel, he said:

"I just wonder if they [UFC] have data on how many people poke people in the eyes or kick people in the groin and get away with it, and the fight carries on, and the guy, you know, might have lost his eye. Just horrendous thing to think as a parent really... I'm not saying Ciryl does [that repeatedly]. I think it would be useful to analyze the people who do it and not get them out of the sport, but have them tidy up the game so they don't go and kick people in between the legs, and they don't keep constantly poking people in the eyes because a lot of fighters do it and get away with it in the fight."

Edited by Abhishek Nambiar