Tom Aspinall will return home with the heavyweight title in hand, but his match against Cyrille Gane in the main event of UFC 321 ended with an eye poke, leaving him without a win.
It was a very disappointing end to a fight that started as a tremendous challenge for Aspinall, save for a serious knee injury suffered in a fight with Curtis Blaydes in 2022. Aspinall faced a bit of adversity in the Octagon for the first time, other than suffering a serious knee injury in his 2022 fight with Curtis Blaydes. After a strong start from both fighters, Gane raised his hand to stop the exchange, and his fingers hit Aspinall directly in the eye.
Aspinall received medical attention, but repeatedly stated that he could not see, prompting referee Jason Herzog to stop the bout at 4:35 of the first round. Herzog deemed the eye poke accidental, and the result was declared a no contest.
“Guys, I just got knuckled deep in the eyeball. Why are you booing?” Aspinall shouted to the crowd in Abu Dhabi. “What should I do? I didn’t do that. I’m blind.”
Aspinall, who had his eyes covered with a wet rag and was anxious to receive treatment, was understandably upset considering the fight ended like this, even though he had to wait 15 months before returning to the Octagon.
“This is bullshit,” Aspinall said. “The fight just started. Total bullshit. I’m pissed off. I can barely open my eyes. Fucking double shove, both eyes.”
As for Gehn, he was strong at first, but he was similarly disappointed after his eye poke actually damaged Aspinal before the fight was over.
Gane said, “I feel sorry for the audience and the fans. I am truly sorry.” “I feel sorry for Tom Aspinall. I feel sorry for myself. I’m so sorry, but this is sport. We don’t know what the future holds. We’ll see.”
Considering the heavyweight division was already on hold while we wait to see what Jon Jones does for the future, this is probably the worst possible outcome for Aspinall as he was trying to establish himself as the dominant champion in the division. Instead, he returned home after Saturday’s no-contest, struggling to regain vision in one eye.
Before the eye poke, Aspinall began the fight by taking the center of the octagon and showing off his immense hand speed, but Gehn was ready, circling away to avoid serious damage. Gane then established a lightning-quick jab, consistently striking Aspinall’s nose and causing profuse bleeding all over his face.
As the time of the round expired, Aspinall jumped into an exchange and Gane made a move that hit the champion directly in the eye. The match was paused to allow Aspinall time to recover from a nasty poke in the eye.
A ringside doctor checked on Aspinall, but he repeatedly stated that he had lost vision behind his eyes, which was enough for Herzog to stop the fight.
Aspinall clearly retains the championship, but now they need to see how much damage remains in his eye before considering a return, which won’t happen until some point in 2026. Perhaps he will return with Gane, but until then the heavyweight division remains up in the air.