UFC Bantamweight Champion Sean O'Malley Defends Tom Aspinall's Resolve After Disputed UFC 321 Eye Poke Stoppage

Following the contentious conclusion of the UFC 321 main event, which saw interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall declared unable to continue after an accidental eye poke from Ciryl Gane, UFC Bantamweight Champion Sean O’Malley has staunchly defended Aspinall’s toughness. O’Malley, speaking on his personal YouTube channel, dismissed criticisms leveled against the British heavyweight, asserting that questioning Aspinall’s fortitude in the face of an illegal and potentially vision-threatening foul is "insane."

The highly anticipated heavyweight clash at UFC 321, held on Saturday, aimed to solidify the pecking order in a division currently without a clear undisputed champion due to Jon Jones’s injury. Tom Aspinall, with a professional record of 14 wins and 3 losses, entered the octagon as the interim champion, having secured the title with a dominant first-round knockout over Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 in November 2023. Known for his well-rounded skill set, combining formidable striking with high-level grappling, Aspinall had established himself as one of the most dangerous contenders in the division, boasting an impressive 100% finish rate in his victories.

His opponent, Ciryl Gane, a former interim heavyweight champion himself, held a record of 12 wins and 2 losses. Gane, celebrated for his exceptional movement, technical kickboxing, and evasive style, was coming off a TKO victory over Sergey Spivak in September 2023. The matchup promised a stylistic clash between Aspinall’s aggressive pressure and Gane’s fluid, rangy striking, with significant implications for the heavyweight title picture.

The bout, however, concluded abruptly just 24 seconds into the first round. During an exchange, Gane extended his lead hand, and his fingers made contact with both of Aspinall’s eyes. The immediate replays showed clear and firm contact, prompting Aspinall to recoil in visible discomfort. Referee Jason Herzog promptly halted the action, allowing medical staff to assess Aspinall’s condition. Despite a brief attempt to recover, Aspinall indicated he was unable to continue due to impaired vision, leading to the fight being declared a No Contest (NC).

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The premature stoppage ignited a flurry of reactions across the mixed martial arts community. While many expressed sympathy for Aspinall and disappointment over the anticlimactic finish, a segment of pundits and fans questioned Aspinall’s decision not to continue. Notable voices, including former UFC fighters Chael Sonnen and Anthony Smith, articulated a perspective that professional fighters, particularly in a championship setting, should be prepared to "fight with one eye at times" and push through adversity, even from fouls. This viewpoint suggested a perceived lack of resilience from Aspinall, implying he might have been able to overcome the injury.

Conversely, veteran fighter Jim Miller offered a different perspective, emphasizing that the primary criticism should be directed at the offending fighter, Ciryl Gane, for the illegal strike. Miller’s stance highlighted the distinction between enduring legal damage and being forced out of a fight by a foul, arguing that the onus of responsibility lies with the fighter who commits the infraction, regardless of intent.

Sean O’Malley, the reigning UFC Bantamweight Champion, emphatically sided with Aspinall, leveraging his platform to counter the narratives questioning Aspinall’s toughness. On his YouTube channel, O’Malley dissected the incident, drawing a clear line between legal combat damage and illegal fouls.

"A lot of people in the MMA space talking about how it was disappointing Tom didn’t continue," O’Malley stated, addressing the prevailing sentiment. He then proceeded to differentiate the nature of the injury. "You’re the UFC heavyweight champion of the world, you just got poked in the eye very bad, you’re fighting a very dangerous kickboxer. It is hard to stand in front of a human being with that high level of skills and fight him with two eyes. Now you’re going to get illegally poked in the eye."

O’Malley elaborated on this distinction, explaining that a legal blow causing an eye injury is fundamentally different from an illegal foul. "It wasn’t a right hand that hit, boom, broke his orbital, eye swells up, you can’t see. That’s different. You get punched in the eye, a legal shot, your eye swells up, you can’t see, you fight through that. Tom Aspinall would fight through that. He wouldn’t get punched, eye swells up, and go, ‘I’m done. I can’t see.’"

He continued, emphasizing the specific circumstances of the foul. "It’s different because he got poked in the eye. That is an illegal strike. It was an accident, 100 percent believe it was an accident. I don’t think Ciryl did it on purpose. Ciryl was getting the better of Tom. But to question Tom’s toughness is insane. No one wanted that more than Tom Aspinall. He wanted to fight. He wanted to fight more than we wanted to watch him fight, so it’s hard. You can’t question Tom’s toughness. You just can’t."

O’Malley further contextualized the severity of an eye poke by referencing his own experiences in training. "I’ve been poked in the eye before," he recounted. "Not in a fight, but in practice, been poked in the eye. Boom. Whoa. I’m done. I’m not going to continue to practice. Obviously, you can’t see, it’s uncomfortable, it hurts, it’s scary. You don’t know if it’s going to come back. You don’t know if you’re going to be able to see it again. That really is a possibility, you get poked in the eye and you can’t see ever again, let alone now you’re trying to fight this guy who’s a massive elite athlete who’s been popping you with a freaking jab. Now you have one eye because of an illegal strike. It’s unfortunate, but you just can’t question Tom’s toughness on that."

He reiterated his conviction regarding Aspinall’s inherent toughness, positing that the interim champion would endure far greater legal damage. "He gets punched in the eye, eye swells up, he’s not going to quit fighting, he’s not going to stop fighting. You could probably break Tom’s arm and he’s going to keep f*cking fighting. So I just don’t think it’s fair to question his toughness at that moment. Again, no one wanted to fight or be in there more than Tom."

The abbreviated nature of the main event left significant questions hanging over the heavyweight division. With less than 30 seconds elapsed, no official scoring was possible, leaving speculation about Gane’s early performance and Aspinall’s potential to turn the tide over the remaining 20 minutes of the championship fight. O’Malley acknowledged Gane’s strong start in the fleeting moments of the fight. "Ciryl Gane was looking so good in that first round," O’Malley observed. "Tom Aspinall’s nose was bleeding, Ciryl was landing with that jab. I’m not a heavyweight, you go in there and a lot of the times at heavyweight you see guys not really engage too much because it takes one punch, especially from two big punchers like that, and Tom was kind of coming forward, Ciryl was landing beautiful jabs circling around. He won that round."

The Bantamweight champion’s assessment of the eye poke’s severity also evolved upon closer inspection of replays. "At first when I saw it, it didn’t look that bad," O’Malley admitted. "Then they zoomed in real close up, both eyes, he got fingered. Two in the eyes. One of his fingers, like, it was deep." This detailed review reinforced his belief in the legitimate incapacitation of Aspinall.

UFC CEO Dana White expressed immediate interest in re-booking the fight between Aspinall and Gane, acknowledging the unsatisfactory conclusion for both fighters and fans. However, no official date or timeline for Aspinall’s return to action has been announced, pending further medical evaluation and recovery. The heavyweight division, which was set for a clearer title picture, remains in a state of flux, with the potential rematch being a top priority to resolve the interim championship status.

O’Malley concluded by lamenting the loss of what promised to be an exceptional contest. "Both those guys for being heavyweights can move so well on their feet. God, that was going to be such a sweet fight and I thought Tom was going to out there and kind of run through Ciryl. That was going to be a very interesting fight. I guess running it back makes sense." The sentiment across the sport appears to converge on the necessity of a rematch to definitively settle the score between two of the heavyweight division’s elite athletes.