Everyone has an opinion on Tom Aspinall’s controversial no-contest against Cyril Gane at UFC 321.
After 15 months on the sidelines, Aspinall’s first defense of his undisputed heavyweight title came to an anticlimactic end in the opening round. With 30 seconds left in the stanza, Gane unintentionally poked the Brit in both eyes, and the much-anticipated clash came to an immediate halt.
Since then, every MMA fan and pundit on the planet has given their take on the finish. Understandably, many criticized Aspinall’s decision to withdraw from the match. However, several people agree with the 32-year-old’s decision.
That includes Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo, who appeared to take Aspinall’s side on a recent episode of the “Pound 4 Pound” podcast.
“Forget your neck and shoulders,” Usman said. “You lost an eye and that’s it.”
“And now, with the final fight on the horizon, I think the biggest thing I can say to these young cats is to watch your eyes,” Cejudo added. “I recently had a guy in my gym get his (expletive) toe stuck in there during practice and almost lost his eye. It’s sad.”
Tom Aspinall’s father provides update on UFC heavyweight champion’s vision
Although it sounds like Aspinall suffered no permanent damage from the eye-knock during the duel, his father and con artist Andy Aspinall provided a worrying update on YouTube.
“(Doctors) said it’s bad, it’s not good,” the elder Aspinall said. “But his eyes were a little more closed than they were before. His right eye still couldn’t see anything. He said it was just gray. And they tested his words, but he couldn’t see anything. His left eye was at 50% and dropped about four letters, but then he couldn’t see any letters. So one was really, really blurry and the other one still wasn’t working.”
Most likely, the UFC will rebook the rights to the heavyweight title sometime in 2026.