Francis Ngannou has come out in defense of Tom Aspinall after his decision to withdraw from the UFC heavyweight title fight against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321, due to an eye poke. In the main event in October, Aspinall defended the undisputed heavyweight title for the first time, when Gane poked him in the eyes twice, both in the first round. The second poke affected both of Aspinall’s eyes and, despite a five-minute break to recover, the British fighter could not continue. Aspinall was taken to the hospital after the fight was declared a no-contest. UFC president Dana White has already stated that a rematch would be scheduled as soon as possible. However, Aspinall’s father has revealed that his son is still feeling the effects of the incident and cannot see out of his right eye. Numerous fighters have spoken about the incident, and Ngannou has defended Aspinall’s actions.
Ngannou continued explaining the situation.I think that eye poke was news, more than the fight itself, more than the announcement of the fight.
Francis Ngannou
Ngannou explained the seriousness of the situation.I understand there was a lot of frustration, basically from the fans. They were very excited to see the result, but there was definitely a poke in the eye and Tom’s vision was compromised.
Francis Ngannou
Ngannou concluded his defense of Aspinall.Getting poked in the eye isn’t like getting kicked in the testicles and being able to recover and come back. It’s not like a pain; it compromises your vision. And if you’re practicing a combat sport with compromised vision, it’s not good at all.
Francis Ngannou
Ngannou hasn’t competed in MMA since October 2024, when he finished Renan Ferreira in his PFL debut. Before that, he suffered a second-round defeat against Anthony Joshua in a boxing match.What if your vision is compromised, you keep going, and maybe because of that, something happens? You lose the fight, the same people will say how stupid you were, “You should have stopped, blah, blah, blah.” So I think it’s just frustration from the fans, although there was an eye poke [that] should be respected. Unintentional, of course, but there was an eye poke that definitely causes damage and affects vision.
Francis Ngannou
