During last Saturday’s main event in Abu Dhabi, Aspinall was accidentally poked in the eye by Ciryl Gane in the opening round and declared unable to continue. The fight ended abruptly, leaving fans and fighters debating whether the champion could have carried on.
Dillashaw Shares His Perspective
Speaking on the JAXXON Podcast, Dillashaw didn’t question the foul itself but admitted he wasn’t convinced by how the aftermath looked.
“First and foremost, it was a foul, and Ciryl Gane is the one to blame for it,” Dillashaw said. “But, from the optics, and the way that it looked, his eye was closed when he got poked in it. He was saying he couldn’t see, and he wasn’t even trying to open his eye to see if he could see. Obviously I have no idea, I’m not there.”
Dillashaw added that the post-fight photos left him unsure how serious the damage truly was.
“But you see the pictures afterwards, and his eye looks fine. I’ve seen a whole finger go into someone’s eye, and they keep fighting. So, I don’t know. It’s all speculation, but I feel like he might have taken the easier way out. It’s a no contest, he gets to come back, he gets paid $3 million. Come back and do it again.”
Aspinall’s Adversity and Gane’s Pressure
Before the foul occurred, Gane had been performing well, extending Aspinall longer than most of his previous opponents and landing several clean strikes, including a jab that bloodied the champion’s nose. Dillashaw suggested that Aspinall may have been caught off guard by Gane’s timing and range.
“His athleticism and like how well he’s able to keep the fight in his distance, and control distance, and keep his shots firing,” Dillashaw said. “Aspinall has never been out of the first round. He bum-rushes you, hits you with power, puts you out. Wasn’t going that way, and you get a way out where you’re still the champion, and you still get paid, and you still get to do it again.”
Dillashaw Questions the Optics
While Dillashaw emphasized that he didn’t want to see a fighter compete while injured, he reiterated that the situation looked questionable to him.
“I don’t know. Just the optics of it, the way that he got poked with his eyes closed and just like not even trying to open his eyes to really see, and the doctor’s like his eye looks fine. It just didn’t look good. Obviously I don’t want someone to fight impaired, but at the same time, it just looks too fishy.”
Following the incident, Aspinall’s father and coach, Andy Aspinall, offered an update that contradicted speculation about the injury being minor.
According to him, Tom was still experiencing vision problems several days later.
He said his son “still couldn’t see out of his right eye” as of Tuesday and had only “50 percent vision” in his left.
The UFC has not announced whether the heavyweight title bout will be rescheduled, but both fighters are expected to recover before the end of the year.
