Tom Aspinall's first defence of his UFC heavyweight title ended in bitter disappointment at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night.
The Manchester fighter's bout against Ciryl Gane was declared a no contest after just four minutes when the Frenchman caught him with fingers in both eyes.
The incident happened as Aspinall attempted a kick and Gane threw a punch, with his extended fingers raking across both of the champion's eyes. The referee immediately called for a timeout and brought in the doctor to assess the damage.
Blood was already streaming from Aspinall's nose as he held a cloth to his eyes during the medical timeout.
Tom Aspinall's first defence of his UFC heavyweight title ended in bitter disappointment at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night
|REUTERS
The champion repeatedly told the referee and doctor "I can't f****** see" and stressed that his vision hadn't returned even after the allowed recovery time of five minutes.
WIth Aspinall's clear distress, officials had no choice but to call off the fight. The referee declared it a no contest, meaning Aspinall would keep his title but not in the way he'd hoped.
The fight was forced into a no contest meaning the pair will enter the octagon again
|REUTERS
Both fighters were desperate to leave the cage but had to remain in the centre to hear the official announcement.
The crowd's boos rang out across the arena, prompting a furious response from Aspinall.
"Guys, I just got poked knuckle deep in the eyeball. Why are you booing?" he asked during his post-fight interview. "What am I supposed to do about it? I didn't do the poke. I can't see."
LATEST SPORTS NEWS
The champion pointed to his swollen eye, explaining it was a double eye poke that had ended the fight just as it was getting started.
"I can hardly open my eye. Look!" he told the disappointed and frustrated crowd, before fuming: "Complete bulls***, I'm p***** off."
Aspinall was later taken to hospital for treatment of his eye injuries and broken nose.
Tom Aspinall was just made to sit out for 454 days because the champion was ducking him, just to come back and get poked in the eye in the first round, ending the fight
— ACD MMA (@acdmma_) October 25, 2025
you’ve got to feel for him man #UFC321pic.twitter.com/sk60EKRXQz
Gane was visibly devastated by the outcome, dropping to his knees in the octagon. The Frenchman offered heartfelt apologies to everyone involved.
"I feel sorry," he said. "I'm sorry for the crowd, for the fans, I'm sorry for Tom Aspinall and sorry for myself."
He acknowledged the effort both fighters had put into preparing for the bout, calling it disappointing but accepting it as part of the sport.
"We put a lot of energy in this fight so I'm disappointed but this is the sport, this is life," Gane said.
It was meant to be Aspinall's first title defence since becoming undisputed champion following Jon Jones's retirement in June.