Tom Aspinall is breaking his silence after his big UFC 321 main event against Ciryl Gane ended in the first round after his opponent eye gouged him badly.
After a ton of delays, Aspinall was finally defending
his undisputed heavyweight title. His bout barely got started before it ended with Gane’s outstretched hand raking him in the face, with fingers going into both his eyes. The British champion struggled to recover but he was unable to recover, ending the bout at 4:35. The official call: a No Contest due to accidental eye pokes.
A new video uploaded to Aspinall’s Instagram captured his frustration backstage as doctors performed tests on his vision.
“All that training for that,” Aspinall said. “What the f–k is he doing? They’re both f–king bad. They’re both bad. He got warned twice. F–king did it again.”
Aspinall’s father and coach Andy also commented on the disappointing result.
“Mike Bisping lost his eye,” he said. “It’s a horrendous thing to think as a parent and I know what it’s like with people saying what they want but if it’s your son and they could lose an eye and their health and they’ve got children to look after. Something needs doing about it. It’s horrendous for me to look at that.”
UFC CEO Dana White committed to rebooking the two as soon as possible, but with the promotion’s schedule booked up until February there’s only a small chance they slide Aspinall vs. Gane 2 onto an earlier card. That means more waiting for Aspinall on top of all the waiting he’s done over the past two years. The guy just can’t seem to catch a break.
