Tom Aspinall and Cyrille Gane ended UFC 321 in a disappointing no-contest after the heavyweight champion poked him in the eye and was unable to continue.
After the match, Aspinall was booed loudly by the Abu Dhabi crowd, but also faced criticism that he did not want to restart the match, as Gaane had performed much better than most expected. UFC CEO Dana White certainly made no such accusations, but he also knows that ultimately it was Aspinall’s decision whether to go ahead with the fight.
“I feel the same way that everyone feels. It was a great show, but it ended in a shitty way,” White said in the UFC 321 post-fight press conference. “I think a lot of people criticized Cyril Gane after the (Jon) Jones fight. He looked really good tonight. It looked like we could go a few rounds and it’s going to be a good fight.”
“I can’t make people fight. Even if I wanted to put together a fight, I can’t make people fight. I can never make people continue when they feel injured. Tom is the only one who knows what happened. Did he see it? Did he not see it? Can he continue? Only he knows.”
Aspinall sought medical attention immediately after being poked in the eye and kept a wet towel on his face to try to recover.
Unfortunately, as time passed, it became clear that Aspinall said his eyesight was completely impaired, effectively ending the fight. Following the no-contest result, White admitted that since the heavyweight title had already been dormant for over a year, he had no choice but to take it back, even though it was clearly not what the UFC wanted.
White admitted: “It really hurts, but yeah (I’ll book a rematch).” “Aside from some eye problems, they’re both in good shape. Neither of them are hurt. As soon as possible.”
White revealed that Aspinall was taken to a local hospital immediately after the game and did not appear at the press conference to address his injury.
That said, White admitted he was really impressed with Gane’s performance, and if there’s a positive takeaway from this fight, it’s that the odds for a rematch should be much, much closer.
After Gane’s loss to Jones in 2023, White said, “I think everyone was sleeping on Cyril Gane and feeling bad about him because of the Jon Jones fight.” “I’m sure he was training like an animal for this fight in camp, and it’s unfortunate that it ended the way it did.”
“Seeing Tom covered in blood will probably increase interest in the rematch even more. Tom didn’t want to continue the fight. A rematch would be very interesting.”