Ex-UFC star tells Tom Aspinall he should’ve fought on after nasty eye injury

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Tom Aspinall faced a disastrous night, marking a terrible end to the UFC’s return to Abu Dhabi.

Aspinall fought Ciryl Gane in the main event of UFC 321, making his first defence of the undisputed heavyweight belt. Expectations were high heading in, but things fell apart quickly on Saturday night.

The French challenger landed a double eye poke early in the opening round. Despite being accidental, it was clear straight away that the Briton was badly affected.

After several minutes spent trying to recover, Aspinall told the referee he could not see out of one eye. The fight was ruled a no contest, leaving fans without a proper finish.

UFC legend says Tom Aspinall should have kept fighting

Right after the fight was stopped, it was clear Aspinall was struggling and needed to get out of the cage for treatment. But instead, he was kept in there and asked to speak with Daniel Cormier, despite still not being able to see out of one eye.

During that interview, fans in Abu Dhabi started booing him, which only added to his frustration. He fired back at the crowd before making his way out of the Octagon.

Things did not improve from there. At the post-fight press conference, UFC boss Dana White said that “Aspinall did not want to fight,” leading some fans to believe he was upset with the champion.

The 32-year-old ended up needing a trip to hospital due to how serious his injury was. But even so, former UFC fighter Chael Sonnen said on ESPN that Aspinall should have fought through it.

He stated on ESPN post-fight show: “Being poked in the eye is illegal, but to fight with one eye is very common.

“In all fairness, if you’re the heavyweight champion of the world you’ve got to fight with one eye at times… If you get poked in the eye and you’re injured we have a totally different conversation but if you get poked in the eye and you can’t see generally in our sport that’s just something you’ve got push through.”

White eyes rematch after controversial finish

‘Bon Gamin’ made a strong start to the fight and even opened up a cut on Aspinall’s nose, something that likely would have given him confidence heading into the later rounds.

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With the fight ending in controversy, White said at the post-fight press conference that he plans to rebook it as soon as possible, with December or January being targeted for the rematch.