Former middleweight champion Michael Bisping expressed deep frustration following the abrupt and unfortunate conclusion to UFC 321, where Ciryl Gane’s accidental eye poke forced Tom Aspinall out of the heavyweight title bout.
The fight ended in a no contest, leaving fans inside the Etihad Arena disappointed and confused. Speaking on TNT Sports’ post-fight broadcast, Bisping shared his frustration and concern for his fellow Brit.
“Of course, it was a disaster – an absolute fiasco,” Bisping said. “They’ve got to do something about these eye pokes. … The main thing is that his vision is going to be OK – fingers crossed. We hope. Probably will – it’s just hopefully a bit of temporary vision loss and a scratched cornea or something like that. That remains to be seen. What makes it extra frustrating is all the circumstances leading into it – the time he was waiting for this moment and all the rest of it. But it was turning out to be a tremendous fight.”
Ciryl Gane really dug his fingers deep in Tom Aspinall’s eyes.
What the F$ck #UFC321 pic.twitter.com/Move3Cm8Gd
— GordXRohit (@gordx_ux) October 25, 2025
“It was shaping up to be an incredible fight”
Bisping praised both heavyweights for delivering a strong performance before the foul occurred.
“That fight was great. They went at each other. They went toe-to-toe. Ciryl Gane was standing his ground. He wasn’t dancing around, he wasn’t trying to avoid the fight, he wasn’t trying to make it boring. He was standing there and having to trade. He defended the takedowns, as well. It was really looking like a tremendous fight.”
Before the eye poke, Gane appeared sharp and composed, landing clean shots while defending Aspinall’s takedown attempts. The matchup was quickly shaping up to be one of the best heavyweight fights of the year before the unfortunate ending.
“If you can’t see, say it” — Bisping supports Aspinall’s choice
Having fought much of his career with limited vision himself, Bisping knows better than most the risks that come with continuing under those conditions. The UFC Hall of Famer defended Aspinall’s decision to be honest about his vision after the eye poke, despite fan criticism.
“There’s people online saying, ‘When you’re saying multiple times you can’t see, if you want to continue you shouldn’t be saying that.’ Reality is, if he can’t see, tell the truth,” Bisping said. “If you can’t see, you’re allowed to say you can’t see. People might point to me and say, ‘Well you fought with one eye.’ Yeah, it was a secret because I shouldn’t have been fighting. Tom is the champion of the world and he doesn’t want to go out there when his vision is impaired or massively affected and potentially lose a fight that was shaping up to be a difficult fight.”
Bisping reminded fans that Gane was performing well and had caused visible damage to Aspinall’s face, emphasizing that continuing under those conditions would have been dangerous and reckless.
“Ciryl Gane was on point. You saw the damage on Tom’s face. This was not an easy fight by any stretch of the imagination. He didn’t want to continue with his vision damaged or not being able to see. I don’t blame him. The crowd were upset – I get that. They were frustrated.”
Bisping hopes for full recovery and quick rematch
While the outcome was far from ideal, Bisping remains optimistic that Aspinall’s injury isn’t long-term. He hopes the champion will heal quickly so the UFC can rebook the fight sooner rather than later.
“They could do the fight next week assuming everything is OK with Tom’s eyes,” Bisping said. “MSG (in November) or December. … Final pay-per-view, three title fights, what a way to go out.”
Bisping’s words carry extra weight — not just as a friend of Aspinall’s, but as someone who spent years fighting with a damaged eye that eventually left him nearly blind on one side. His defense of Aspinall sends a clear message: there’s no shame in protecting your health, even at the highest level of the sport.
If Aspinall’s vision recovers without lasting damage, fans may soon see the long-awaited rematch — this time, hopefully decided by skill rather than circumstance.
