In the fallout of Tom Aspinall’s fight with Ciryl Gane, much of the focus has been on the double eye poke that left the British champion unable to continue. Yet before Gane’s foul on Aspinall, the UFC heavyweight title fight was shaping up to be intriguing.
Aspinall was defending the undisputed heavyweight belt for the first time on Saturday, in the main event of UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi, when he was poked in both eyes at the same time, leaving him unable to keep fighting. As such, the bout was ruled a No Contest in the very first round.
At the post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White said a rematch would be booked as soon as possible, while he also complimented Gane on his performance prior to the fight-ending foul.
Gane, an underdog with the bookies, had already bloodied the nose of Aspinall in the four-and-a-half minutes of cage time, and denied the Briton his usual early knockout. The French challenger, who had lost his previous two undisputed-title fights, also denied Aspinall a takedown, although he appeared to poke Aspinall in the eye in that moment – even before the final foul.
In any case, Aspinall’s compatriot Dan Hardy – a UFC title challenger-turned-analyst, who now works with the Professional Fighters League – was interested to see how Aspinall would have adapted in round two.
“Honestly, I thought Ciryl looked really, really good,” Hardy told Submission Radio on Thursday. “I was expecting it to be even more one sided in the opening moments with Tom’s presence. He’s got a very bullying way of moving in front of people, especially once their back foot’s up against the fence.
“I thought Ciryl was way more confident in his stance [than usual], he was way less flighty and bouncy on his toes, which sometimes undermines his power for a big guy. He’s very high on his toes.
“Tom’s very good at moving quickly when he needs to but also sitting down on his punches when the timing’s right, and I thought Ciryl had made that adjustment a little bit this time around.
“I thought Tom’s footwork was very good, but I don’t think he did enough as far as skirmishing with anything, like lead-hand or lead-leg stuff. I don’t think he was doing enough. I think he was too busy taking a look at Ciryl.
“One thing I will say is: you get a bit of a shock when you fight someone like Tom Aspinall and someone like Ciryl Gane. I would imagine that Ciryl has that moment in the first couple of minutes of every fight, where people are like: ‘Oh, man, he is way faster than I was expecting. This is kind of surreal for a heavyweight to move like that.’
“I can’t imagine Tom’s ever fought anybody that’s given him that kind of look. I think Tom, in those opening moments, had a little bit of a: ‘Oh, wow, this must be what it’s like to fight me – to fight someone that’s really, really fast.’
“Unfortunately for Ciryl as well, because he eye-poked Tom and because the fight was ended there, Tom’s now got a couple of minutes of: ‘Okay, this is what Ciryl’s actually gonna be like.’ Now the next fight could be very different again.”
While Gane’s performance, aside from his fouls, was deemed impressive by many fans and pundits, statistics show he only had a slight lead over Aspinall in terms of landed strikes.
Hardy suggested, “I think what would have happened was: Tom would have probably struggled his way through that first round, got back to his stool, had a good talking-to from his corner team, and come out and put way more pressure on Ciryl – and probably attacked his legs. That’s probably how the fight would have played out.
“But we could’ve still seen Ciryl picking Tom off, scooting off the fence, and starting to get the upper hand in those exchanges. Ciryl was looking really good, [but] he’s kind of lost the element of surprise now, because of how it played out. I could’ve quite easily seen Ciryl going on to win that fight. It would’ve most likely been a decision, but I could’ve seen it happening.”
Addressing the prospective rematch and how it might play out, Hardy added: “I’ll stick with my original pick. I think Tom will make the adjustments. I’ll be honest, I would be more concerned if that fight had carried on, that Ciryl would win.
“I think now Tom’s had that little look, he’ll make some adjustments […] I think he’s gonna look more aggressive, and I do think he’s gonna try and slow Ciryl down by taking his legs away.”
