Ciryl Gane was very happy with how things were going before an accidental eye poke ended his title bout with Tom Aspinall at UFC 321.
Gane (13-2 MMA) and Aspinall (15-3 MMA) collided in the headliner of today’s pay-per-view event in Abu Dhabi with the promotion’s undisputed heavyweight title up for grabs.
‘Bon Gamin’ got off to a terrific start in the opening few minutes of the contest, stuffing Aspinall’s takedown attempts while busting up the champ’s nose with some effective counter shots. However, that success was immediately followed by an accidental eye poke, an unintentional foul that ultimately rendered Tom Aspinall as unable to continue (see that here). With that, the bout was called off and officially ruled a No Contest.
It was an extremely disappointing end to what appeared would be a solid back and forth affair. Some fans in the audience were so upset by the ruling that they proceeded to shower Tom Aspinall with boos during his post-fight interview. The Brit was clearly not impressed by the notion that he intentionally quit and proceeded to blast those fans for insinuating such a thing (see that here).
While Ciryl Gane did not hold any blame against Tom Aspinall for not continuing, he did make sure to note that the eye poke was totally unintentional.
‘Bon Gamin’ shared the following sentiments during the UFC 321 post-fight press conference (via MMAJunkie):
“I think I started very well, because everybody knows the strategy. Every time he started really hard and surprised his opponent. I think I did very well. We defended the takedown. I touched him. We saw some blood on his nose. It was a really great first round. That’s why maybe I was a little bit disappointed, a little bit sad about this issue. But this is a sport.”
Ciryl Gane went on to say that he felt bad about the situation but added he will be ready to go again whenever Dana White and company book the rematch.
“No, I didn’t feel anything specific. I didn’t do it on purpose. I know what it is to have an eye poke because when I fought Derrick Lewis, I got an eye poke, and I was fighting two Derrick Lewis’s for a full round. So, I know how it is.”
Gane continued:
“I knew he loves to start really fast, so I was touching him. I was defending the takedown. In the middle of the first round, I was feeling myself in a certain flow. I started to understand really well what was happening. I thought I would end this fight… I was ready for absolutely everything, for the wrestling, for the grappling, for the striking. I was working on also a lot of good things that I used to show, and I used to like. The creativity in the striking is my thing. It’s absolutely something I wanted to show off today.”
How do you think an immediate rematch between Aspinall and Gane will end up?