Photo of French UFC fighter Ciryl Gane at post-match press conference in Abu Dhabi on October 25, 2025. — Screengrab

Ciryl Gane has reacted to the eye poke fiasco against Tom Aspinall at UFC 321, saying this is a sport, and it happens.

Aspinall was up against Ciryl Gane, hoping to get his highly anticipated title reign on a high note.

When 25 seconds were left in the opening round, the Englishman suffered a nasty eye poke, and the bout was ruled a no-contest.

Aspinall took time, but then decided not to continue, admitting that he could no longer see out of one eye, and the fight was stopped, leaving the crowd inside Etihad Arena unhappy.

“Guys, I just got poked knuckle deep in the eye ball, why are you booing?” a devastated Aspinall said. responding to the noise of the fans.

“This is bulls***, the fight was just getting going. I can hardly open my eye.”

Meanwhile, the challenger Gane has also reacted to the first round no-contest, saying he was doing well in the Octagon and that is why he is disappointed with the result.

“I think I started very well,” Gane said in the post-fight press conference.

“Because everybody knows his strategy every time; he starts hard and surprises his opponent. I think we did well, defending a takedown and touching him. We saw some blood on his nose. It was a really great first round, and that’s why I was a little bit disappointed, a little bit sad about this issue. But this is the sport.”

He further added that Aspinall did not choose to end the fight on purpose, sharing his experience when he had an eye poke against Derrick Lewis.

“No, I didn’t feel anything specific,” Gane said when asked about the poke.

“I didn’t do it on purpose. And I know what it is to have an eye poke. When I fought Derrick Lewis, I had an eye poke, and I was seeing two Derrick Lewis for [one] round. … So I’m not going to say, ‘Yeah, he’s a liar.’”

Expressing his plans on a rematch, he said that he will take his time, he will see his family, and then decide what to do.

“First of all, I’m going to take care of myself, see my wife, see my family, see my kids,” Gane said.

“Take some time for me, and then after that, I’ll talk to my coach and see when is the rematch and what’s happening.”