This past Saturday in the main event of UFC 321, the heavyweight title was on the line. Champion Tom Aspinall (15-3, 1 NC) was making the first title defense of his undisputed title as he took on former interim champ Ciryl Gane (13-2, 1 NC).
Aspinall was finally getting back inside the octagon after being off for 15 months. The champ had been on the sidelines while the UFC were doing everything in their power to book the fight between Aspinall and former champion Jon Jones.
The fight never materialized and Aspinall was just happy to get back inside the octagon. During his time away, Aspinall’s popularity soared. Due to his impressive run of finishes and Jon Jones’ unwillingness to fight him, Aspinall seemed like this unstoppable force heading into Saturday.
Outside of an injury loss to Curtis Blaydes, we had never seen Aspinall in any form of trouble and he never took any damage. That changed on Saturday in his fight against Ciryl Gane. Gane looked better than ever on Saturday and he looked like someone who trained as hard as possible for this opportunity at UFC 321.
He was making Aspinall miss on the feet and he was landing brutal jabs that busted up the nose of Aspinall. He also defended Aspinall’s lone takedown attempt with ease. For the first time, Aspinall looked human inside the octagon and then with about 30 seconds left in the opening round, Gane accidentally poked Aspinall in the eye.
After five minutes, Aspinall informed referee Jason Herzog that he still couldn’t see and the fight was waved off and called a No Contest.
Tom Aspinall’s Stock After UFC 321
Outside of losing, this was the worst case for Tom Aspinall. There were many questions about Aspinall entering Saturday despite his invincible persona and his incredible finishing ability. There were questions about his cardio and there were questions about how he’d deal with adversity.
He was going to have to answer both of those questions on Saturday. It was clear that he wasn’t getting Ciryl Gane out of there early and he had taken some damage in the first round and he was bleeding. It was truly the first time that he faced adversity inside the octagon and then he was fouled.
He got poked in the eye, and the UFC heavyweight champion couldn’t continue. He posted a video blog of everything and Aspinall was taken to the hospital after the fight to have his eye examined. Fortunately for him, there doesn’t appear to be any serious damage to his eye. However, his reputation has taken a hit whether it’s fair or not.
There is a large portion of the fanbase that has already changed their opinion about Tom Aspinall. He was a massive fan-favorite heading into Saturday and now, I would venture to guess that Ciryl Gane will likely garner more fan support whenever the UFC runs this one back.
Aspinall’s first test of adversity inside the octagon and it’s cut short due to him saying he couldn’t see and the fight being ruled a No Contest. There is going to be a very vocal portion of the fanbase who will think that Aspinall is a quitter after Saturday night.
Let me be clear, Tom Aspinall did the right thing if he couldn’t see out of his right eye. He had a very dangerous opponent in front of him and one he was losing to with both eyes. Why should he have continued if he couldn’t see out of one eye when he was losing at that moment with both?
Tom Aspinall is a competitor and I’m sure if he could see, he would’ve wanted to continue. He would’ve wanted to answer the questions about his ability to deal with adversity and the cardio questions. I really don’t think he would want to invite the current narrative regarding his heart.
I don’t think Tom Aspinall is a quitter and I think that narrative is unfair. That said, whenever the UFC books this rematch, the aura around Aspinall is going to be completely different. He’s going to have far more to prove in the rematch than he did going into Saturday.
The betting lines already show the drastic change of public opinion surrounding this fight. Few gave Gane a chance entering the fight on Saturday and now, I wouldn’t be shocked if people are 50/50 when the UFC runs this one back.
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