Paddy Pimblett has some strong opinions on how UFC 321 went down, dubbing the event one of the worst pay-per-views in the history of the promotion.
Out of 13 fights, only three ended with legit stoppages. And then there was the main event, which ended via No Contest after Ciryl Gane used Tom Aspinall’s face like a bowling ball, sticking fingers in both his eyes at the end of the first round.
A new video on lightweight contender Paddy Pimblett’s YouTube captured his reaction in real time.
”That was an
eye poker, innit? That was both eyes as well,” he said immediately after the foul. “That wasn’t just his finger in one eye. Fingers went in both eyes, it’s not even like he just poked them in one, lad. Just pushed both his fingers into his eyes.”
“Lad if this does end like this, this’ll be one of the worst pay per views in UFC’s history. One of the biggest disappointments ever when it comes to a card. Yeah, that’s nasty the way both them fingers go in there. He hasn’t fought in 15 months and then this, fight can’t end like this.”
It did indeed end like that, and the crowd at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi exploded in boos to show off their discontent.
“It’s done. Heavy that,” Pimblett said. “I don’t know really what Tom’s meant to do there. He can’t see, he can’t be fighting. I know Bisping fought with one eye, but that was because he had to. Tom doesn’t have to fight with one eye.”
That’s ignoring the fact that Aspinall was poked in both eyes, so he had less than one working eye.
“Hopefully they just get that fight booked again because that was shaping up to be Tom’s toughest test he’s ever had in the UFC,” Pimblett concluded. “As long as Tom’s eyes’ okay, get that fight back on early next year. if they’re ready to go by the end of this year, get it on the December pay-per-view.”
While there are questions surrounding when Aspinall might be ready to compete again, the bigger question is when the UFC’s schedule will allow for this ‘ASAP’ heavyweight title rematch. UFC 323 in December already has two title fights atop it. January’s big card is rumored to feature Ilia Topuria, and we can’t see the UFC bean-counters putting two of their big names atop one card.
We’d love to be wrong on that account, and who knows? With the new Paramount+ deal kicking off at the start of 2026 perhaps the UFC will surprise us. Any other promoter could just rebook the fight in England or France whenever the fighters are ready, but the UFC is more rigid than that these days. We’ll keep you informed the moment the promotion tips its hand on when the rematch might occur.
