Ciryl Gane has indicated no change in his approach following the eye poke incident involving Tom Aspinall. During their UFC 321 heavyweight title bout last year, Aspinall’s first title defense ended prematurely. The fight was declared a no-contest after Gane inadvertently poked Aspinall in both eyes, severely impairing his vision and rendering him unable to continue.
The consequences for Aspinall were significant, as he required double eye surgery and has yet to be cleared for sparring. Meanwhile, Gane is preparing to face Alex Pereira on June 14 for the interim heavyweight championship.
Gane States No Adjustments Made After UFC 321 Eye Poke
In a recent interview with New York Post Sports, Ciryl Gane was questioned about whether he had adjusted his fighting technique to keep his fingers closed during exchanges, to prevent similar incidents from happening to future opponents like Tom Aspinall.
Gane reiterated that the eye poke against Aspinall was unintentional. He explained that he was attempting to “push” Aspinall’s face as the latter was trying to find an opening. Gane also suggested that such accidental fouls are common in MMA and are an inherent part of the sport.
“No [I have not worked on keeping my fingers closed to avoid eye pokes]. Unfortunately, this has happened at almost every event. This isn’t something special. This is MMA.”
Ciryl Gane’s comments:
Ciryl Gane was asked if he has worked on keeping his fingers closed to avoid eye pokes. Gane responded: “No, unfortunately, this has happened at almost every event. This isn’t something special. This is MMA.”
