There are now calls for Tom Aspinall to quit the sport following his first defence of the undisputed UFC heavyweight title.
The main event at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi ended in a no-contest after Ciryl Gane accidentally poked Aspinall in both eyes during the first round.
The Briton took a five-minute break to recover, but even after that, he told the referee and cageside doctor that he still could not see out of one eye.
That led to the fight being called off and declared a no-contest, which did not sit well with fans. Those inside Etihad Arena made their feelings known, while many others vented their frustration on social media.
UFC doctor backs Tom Aspinall
Chael Sonnen and Anthony Smith both felt that Aspinall should have carried on, while some fans accused him of exaggerating the injury to avoid a potential loss, with Gane looking strong early in their title fight.
On the other hand, the 32-year-old has now received support from the sports medicine doctor Brian Sutterer, who addressed the situation in an eight-minute video on YouTube.
He said: “Aspinall was unable to continue after what is certainly one of the worst-looking, not single, but double eye pokes I’ve seen in the sport.”
Sutterer continued: “Right off the bat, for any MMA fans watching this, saying, ‘Tom Aspinall quit’. That he was trying to duck Gane, that he knew he was going to lose anyway, so he just claimed he couldn’t see. Absolutely complete nonsense.
“There is nothing about what we saw here that should be regarded as him faking this or making this up.
“I don’t care that one of his eyes was open during the interview. There is nothing about this that should be interpreted as him making an excuse or trying to get out of the fight.”
Sean O’Malley backs Tom Aspinall after UFC 321 controversy
Sean O’Malley has come out in defence of Aspinall after criticism regarding the way UFC 321 ended.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, the former bantamweight champion said: “You’re the UFC heavyweight champion of the world and you just got poked in the eye very bad, you’re fighting a very dangerous kickboxer
“It is hard to stand in front of a human being with that high level of skills and fight him with two eyes. Now you’re going to get illegally poked in the eye – it wasn’t a ‘boom, your orbital is broken eye swells up punch’ which is different.
“You get punched in the eye, your eye swells up? You fight through that. You wouldn’t go ‘I’m done, I can’t see’. It’s different because he got poked in the eye, that is an illegal strike, illegal move, it was an accident, 100 per cent I believe it was an accident because Ciryl was getting the better of Tom.
“But to question Tom’s toughness is insane. No one wanted that more than Tom Aspinall, he wanted to fight more than we wanted to watch him fight. So you can’t question Tom’s toughness. I’ve been poked in the eye before, not in a fight but in practice.
“I said, ‘I’m done, I’m not going to continue to practice’. You can’t see, it’s scary. You don’t know if that’s going to come back. You don’t know if you’re going to see again, it’s really a possibility that you get poked in the eye and can’t see ever again, let alone now you’re trying to fight this guy.
- READ MORE: Former UFC double-champion calls UFC 321 ‘the worst card in history’ after chaotic finish
“He’s a massive, elite athlete who has been popping you with a jab, now you have one eye because of an illegal strike. It’s unfortunate, but you just can’t question Tom’s toughness on that.”
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