Ciryl Gane is leaving Abu Dhabi disappointed, but not for the reason most would have expected before this weekend.
On Saturday, Gane challenged Tom Aspinall for the UFC heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 321. Gane came out hot early, maintaining the distance and landing several good strikes on the heavyweight champion. However, with about 30 seconds left in the opening round, Gane delivered a pretty brutal accidental eye poke to Aspinall, who, ultimately, was unable to continue fighting. The end result was a No Contest that no one was happy about, least of all Gane.
“I think I started very well,” Gane said in the post-fight press conference. “Because everybody knows his strategy every time; he starts hard and surprises his opponent. I think we did well, defending a takedown and touching him. We saw some blood on his nose. It was a really great first round, and that’s why I was a little bit disappointed, a little bit sad about this issue. But this is the sport.”
Gane’s resignation to the outcome is better than many fans and some fighters, who quickly lashed out against Aspinall, saying he was unable to continue fighting. Even UFC CEO Dana White framed the outcome as Aspinall not wanting to continue, while others were more outright critical of the heavyweight champion. But Gane isn’t one of them.
“No, I didn’t feel anything specific,” Gane said when asked about the poke. “I didn’t do it on purpose. And I know what it is to have an eye poke. When I fought Derrick Lewis, I had an eye poke, and I was seeing two Derrick Lewis for [one] round. … So I’m not going to say, ‘Yeah, he’s a liar.’”
The silver lining for Gane is that he didn’t get disqualified or lose the fight. As unsatisfying as the outcome may be, the bout ended in a No Contest and Dana White said the promotion will look to rebook the bout as soon as possible. So for Gane, he’s now just waiting to get back in and do it all again.
“First of all, I’m going to take care of myself, see my wife, see my family, see my kids,” Gane said. “Take some time for me, and then after that, I’ll talk to my coach and see when is the rematch and what’s happening.”
