Outside Source
Current heavyweight beltholder Tom Aspinall retained his throne after a no contest against Ciryl Gane last Saturday. Due to Aspinall sustaining a simultaneous poke in both eyes, he could not continue and the fight was ruled a no contest. Aspinall’s decision to stop fighting divided fans and pundits, chief among those the fans inside of the Etihad Arena who went home disappointed as well as the fighters he calls colleagues and fellow roster mates.
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Put rising contender Walker, who is on a four-fight finish streak, among those who are not pleased by how UFC 321 transpired. While some defend Aspinall’s decision to fight another day, others believe the heavyweight champion was searching for a way out. Walker believes Aspinall’s decision to stop fighting is a bad showing for the heavyweight division. According to the GOR MMA fighter, he does not believe fighters should quit because there is a neutral, third-party arbiter in the cage with his or her primary priority on fighter safety.
“This makes me little bit upset,” Walker remarked to Inside Fighting on Friday. “Tom made the heavyweights look bad. Because we are big guys, strong guys—this guy poked you in the eye one time, they gave you five minutes to recover, and you pulled out of the fight. He made us heavyweights look bad.”
Gladiators from the New Era
“The Foot Hunter” stuck to his namesake by snaring a heel hook submission over Louie Sutherland earlier in the evening. Walker, who has now performed four consecutive heel hooks, holds the promotional record for the most in a row while tying Rousimar Palhares for the most landed by a fighter in the Octagon. Despite the first-round submission, the Russian athlete claims he fought with a broken fibula since he trusts the UFC to take care of medical expenses. Walker told Inside Fighting:
“I think we are like gladiators from the new era,” Walker stated. “Before, guys used to fight to death. And now you don’t need to fight to death. There’s one guy to save your life. You need to give your maximum. I broke my leg and felt something was wrong, but I kept fighting to the finish. I gave my best because I know I work for the UFC, [and] I know if something goes wrong, they’re gonna pay for surgery, doctors, and take care of me. I’m not scared to die inside the cage, and then there’s this guy who got poked in the eye and pulled out of the fight.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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