The controversial ending to the UFC 321 pay-per-view has led to one bonus snatcher giving athletic commissions an earful.
The main event of the UFC 321 card ended in disappointing fashion when Tom Aspinall couldn’t continue fighting due to an accidental double eye poke. It was a heavyweight title fight against Ciryl Gane that will now have to be booked again.
UFC recordholder Jim Miller made it clear that the lack of punishment for fouls throughout the years led to the outcome of UFC 321. Miller unleashed his rant in an Instagram post (via MMAFighting).
“Eye gouging, eye poking, is a foul. And if that foul is done with intention, then the fighter that commits the foul gets disqualified if the fight can’t continue. In most cases, there’s some silly sh*t in there as well. But it is up to the referee, and probably the commission on the side of the octagon, to decide whether it was intentional or not. And it never seems to be f*cking intentional.
“I’ve had my vision permanently affected by eye pokes. It doesn’t affect my ability to fight or see anything close, really. It’s more quality of life stuff — it’s much harder to see a target with my bow nowadays. Boo hoo. [But] the only way we’re going to stop this thing is if the fighters that are committing the foul actually end up getting punished for the foul. That’s the only way this is going to stop. It’s not a glove issue; it is an issue of culture and the fighters.”
Aspinall vs. Gane will be rebooked in the near future. The UFC Heavyweight Champion was able to avoid serious damage from the poke, and now it’s a matter of when Aspinall’s eye will fully heal. UFC CEO Dana White has confirmed he will try booking the rematch as soon as possible.