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Tom AspinallThe long awaited return of ufc Saturday’s Octagon fight ended in a strange and disappointing manner Cyril Gane Was Derailed by a wink of an eye,
Aspinall’s first round First defense of the undisputed heavyweight titleBoth of his eyes were pierced at the same time, causing a traditional maximum five-minute pause in the action.
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But after Aspinall was examined by the referee and a doctor, it was deemed that the Briton could not continue, and ufc The 321 main event was declared a no contest due to an “accidental foul”.
It was a humiliating and unexpected ending in Abu Dhabi after so much publicityAspinall has to defend the undisputed belt after rising from interim champion this summer, After John Jones’s retirement – Who held the official belt at that time.
Meanwhile, Gane – a former interim champion – was challenging for the undisputed strap for the third time, having previously lost to Francis Ngannou in 2022 and Jon Jones in 2023.
The pre-fight hype created a tense early round, with Aspinall unable to find the knockout shots he usually delivers so early on, while his French opponent also neutralized one or two grappling attempts.
Then, at the end of the round, Aspinall was hit in both eyes at the same time, causing particular pain in his right eye, it seemed. Noise rained down inside the Etihad Arena, with fans left disappointed by the sudden end to proceedings.
“My eyeball is pretty badly bruised,” the 32-year-old Aspinall said in an interview after the cage fight. “What the hell, why are you yelling? What should I do about it? I didn’t poke, I can’t see!”
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“That’s bulls***. The fight was just going on. Look at this, a double eye poke,” he continued, pointing to the slow motion replay on the big screen.
Gane, 35, also came under criticism for the way he conducted his post-fight interview in the Octagon. “I’m very sorry about this,” he said, to the crowd, for Tom Aspinallfor myself. This is the game.”
UFC President Dana White later said that Aspinall had been taken to a local hospital, and indicated that the promotion would arrange a rematch as soon as possible.
Wigan’s Aspinall made the rare decision to defend the interim heavyweight belt by defeating Curtis Blaydes in 60 seconds to retain the interim heavyweight belt in Manchester in July 2024.
Meanwhile, Gane heads into UFC 321 coming off a controversial decision victory against Alexander Volkov in December.