Francis Ngannou has come to Tom Aspinall’s defense after his decision to withdraw from the UFC heavyweight title defense 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 went to the hospital after the fight was declared a no-contest. The UFC president, Dana White, has already stated that a rematch would be scheduled as soon as possible. However, Aspinall’s father has said that his son still feels the effects of the incident and cannot see out of his right eye. Numerous fighters have spoken out about the incident, with Jon Jones being particularly critical of Aspinall, insisting that Gane was dominating the fight.
However, another former UFC star has spoken now, with Ngannou defending 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 elaborated on 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, explaining the logic behind Aspinall’s decision.Getting poked in the eye isn’t like getting kicked in the balls 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
And if your vision is compromised, then you keep going and, perhaps 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’.
Francis NgannouNgannou concluded his point of view.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 to Anthony Joshua in a Boxing match.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
