It has been over a week since Tom Aspinall officially vacated the UFC heavyweight title, and the Englishman’s future remains up in the air. Aspinall took to social media to announce that he is vacating the title after another injury to his right eye during training left his recovery timeline in limbo.
Aspinall was expected to finally unify the heavyweight belts against Ciryl Gane at UFC 334, as revealed by Ariel Helwani. However, another eye surgery means the former champion will have to spend even more time on the sidelines. His long layoff dates back to UFC 321 in October 2025, when Gane poked Aspinall in the eyes and sent his career into an unexpected tailspin.
While Aspinall’s left eye is reportedly good to go, the cells in his right eye have yet to properly regenerate despite undergoing two surgeries. With Gane now elevated to undisputed champion, the Frenchman is set to defend the heavyweight gold against Josh Hokit at UFC 334. However, Gane clearly hasn’t forgotten about being labeled a cheater or blamed for the eye injury that has kept Aspinall out of action.
Ciryl Gane Revisits Derrick Lewis Eye Poke to Defend His Actions at UFC 321
During a recent appearance on Zack Nani TV, Gane questioned Aspinall’s mental toughness and suggested his injury wasn’t as serious as it has been portrayed. He said, “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. There are a lot of things like that where even mentally. We knew he was fragile mentally.”
He added, “Yes, we’d picked up on it with him. The way he celebrated after fights. His body language, a bit? We suspected he was a little fragile. And in the end, sure enough, everything that happened after our fight confirms that the guy complains quite a bit.”
Gane continued, “Brother, you got poked in the eye. You have the right to stop. Nobody knows how you experience that pain. But you don’t need to do everything you did in terms of public statements because it worked against him in the end.
He then explained why he believes the eye poke wasn’t particularly forceful. “Honestly, I was thinking from my feeling when my finger went into his eye was that it wasn’t forceful at all. It looked forceful, but it didn’t feel forceful to me. My hand was really there because I wanted to stay on my feet. So, the impact on the eyes to me isn’t strong.”
Ciryl Gane calls Tom Aspinall “mentally fragile” for the way he reacted after the eye poke 😬
“We knew he was a little mentally fragile. Brother, you got poked in the eye. You have the right to stop. That’s your right. But you don’t need to do everything you did.
Honestly when… pic.twitter.com/Z0KBatdVmD
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) September 22, 2026
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The 265-pound champion then brought up his own experience with an eye poke against Derrick Lewis at UFC 265, where the two fought for the interim heavyweight title.
He said, “It’s like when you take those direct pokes. Which has happened to me actually against Derrick Lewis when I won the [interim] belt. I saw double for 3-4 minutes. He poked me in the eye, and my vision, it hadn’t recovered.
He added, “And I kept fighting like that. I didn’t complain about it. These things happen, you know what I mean. But with him, I feel like the finger. It wasn’t, you know. It wasn’t that forceful. And I thought that fight would resume.”
Based on these comments, Gane appears to be leaning into the villain role in this ongoing saga. He is obviously entitled to his opinion about Aspinall, but considering the serious eye injury that followed their fight and ultimately contributed to Aspinall vacating the title, the Frenchman could have taken a different approach when discussing his former opponent’s situation.
And this isn’t the first time Gane has found himself at the center of controversy over his tactics inside the Octagon. His back-of-the-head finishing shots against Tai Tuivasa were called out by Jon Jones, while his rabbit shots against Junior Dos Santos have also been well documented.
More recently, Gane’s back-of-the-head shots against Alex Pereira at UFC Freedom 250 led to Pereira launching an entire campaign against both Gane and referee Herb Dean. With that history, Gane’s latest comments about Aspinall’s injury were always going to attract plenty of criticism.
Kshitiz Kumar Singh is a UFC Writer at NY Fights with over three years of experience in sports journalism and content creation. Known for his sharp storytelling and passion for combat sports, he has written in-depth features on stars like Brock Lesnar, Randy Couture, and Ilia Topuria. Before joining NY Fights, Kshitiz worked as a UFC Editor at EssentiallySports while currently serving as a WWE Editor at FirstSportz. His admiration for legends like Georges St-Pierre continues to inspire his detailed and engaging MMA coverage. Whether he’s covering the Octagon or the squared circle, Kshitiz is committed to delivering accurate, high-quality content. Outside the world of sports, he’s a dedicated cinephile, often found practicing monologues from his favorite Al Pacino films, combining his love for cinema with storytelling.
