Gane Rips Aspinall Over UFC No-Contest Aftermath

Ciryl Gane has called Tom Aspinall mentally fragile over how the English heavyweight handled their controversial October no-contest.

The pair fought for the UFC heavyweight title last year in a bout that ended when a double eye-poke from Gane left Aspinall unable to continue. Speaking on the Zack En Roue Libre podcast, per Sherdog, the now-undisputed champion said Aspinall had every right to stop but went too far with his public complaints afterward.

Gane Questions Aspinall's Mental Toughness After Eye-Poke Incident

Gane said he continued fighting with compromised vision when Derrick Lewis poked him during their 2021 bout. He contrasted that with Aspinall's behavior. "Brother, you got poked in the eye; you have the right to stop. That's your right," Gane said. "But you don't need to do everything you did in terms of public statements because it worked against him in the end."

The Frenchman added that his camp suspected vulnerabilities before the fight. "Tom Aspinall was seen as a monster really, like a freak of nature, but when you look at the numbers, it's a different story, you know?" he said. "Even mentally, we knew he was a little mentally fragile; we'd picked up on it with him. The way he celebrated after fights, his body language, etc."

Aspinall has remained sidelined with eye-related complications since the bout and recently vacated the title. Gane won the interim belt by stopping Alex Pereira at UFC Freedom 250 in June, then got promoted to undisputed champion after Aspinall's vacancy. He defends against unbeaten Josh Hokit at UFC 334 on Nov. 14 at Madison Square Garden.

Reported via:

• Sherdog — Ciryl Gane rips ‘mentally fragile’ Tom Aspinall over UFC fight aftermath