Outside Source
The reigning heavyweight champion was rendered unable to continue in the UFC 321 headliner when opponent Ciryl Gane poked him in the eyes at the 4:35 mark of Round 1. As a result, their title bout was ruled a no contest — an unsatisfying ending for all parties involved.
Aspinall, who was unable to see following the accidental foul, voiced his frustration in the Octagon in the immediate aftermath of the incident.
“Guys I just got f—king poked knuckle deep in the eyeball. Why are you booing?” Aspinall said in the cage. “What am I supposed to do about it? I didn’t do the f—king poke. I can’t see.
“This is bulls—t. The fight was just getting going. Complete bulls—t. I’m pissed off. I can hardly open my eye. F—king double poke, both eyeballs.”
On Sunday, Aspinall shared further reaction to the eye poke, releasing video of a backstage interaction he had with Daniel Cormier after the bout. Their conversation is as follows:
Aspinall: “All that training for that. What the f—k is he doing?”
Cormier: “The left one was really deep.”
Aspinall: “They were both bad. He got warned twice before it! Twice before he got warned for it. **** did it again!”
Aspinall’s Father Gives Perspective on Eye Poke
The video also shows Aspinall being examined in the hospital and includes his father’s reaction to the injury.
“Mike Bisping, he lost his eye,” Andy Aspinall said. “A horrendous thing to think as a parent. I know what it’s like these days with people saying what they want, but if it’s your son, and he could lose an eye, and their health, and they’ve got children to look after, something needs doing about it.”
Aspinall hadn’t fought since July 2024, when he defended the interim heavyweight crown with a first-round stoppage of Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304. The Brit was left in limbo for months as the promotion waited for then heavyweight champ Jon Jones to make a decision regarding his career. When Jones temporarily retired in June, Aspinall was promoted to undisputed champion.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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