Ciryl
Gane takes responsibility for poking Tom
Aspinall in the eyes.
Gane challenged Aspinall for the undisputed heavyweight title at
UFC 320 last October. The highly anticipated matchup met with an
anticlimactic end as Gane unintentionally poked Aspinall in both
eyes at the same time in the first round. The fight was declared a
no contest after Aspinall was unable to continue despite taking
four out of the five allotted minutes to recover. Although early
into the matchup, some suggested Gane was getting the better of the
Brit while it lasted.
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Gane admits that he made a mistake, although it was unintentional.
“Bon Gamin” explains that he had mistimed a kick to the midsection,
which Aspinall tried to capitalize on by moving forward. The
Frenchman instinctively extended his hand to push Aspinall back and
ended up poking his eyes.
The division keeps turning
With Aspinall still recovering from the eye injury, Gane is now
scheduled to fight Alex
Pereira for an interim heavyweight belt in the co-main event of
the
UFC White House card on June 14. Gane is confident that he will
defeat Pereira and unify the strap against Aspinall. Gane said on a
UFC Countdown video:
“Unfortunately, I did a mistake during this middle kick. And he
tried to go forward. So, my hand was there; I tried to push him.
And the first thing I pushed was his head. Unfortunately, I touched
his eyes… It was a mistake; it was my mistake… I’m on a mission to
win the undisputed belt. I’m gonna win this fight against Pereira.
And I’m gonna go have my revenge against Tom Aspinall and [claim]
my undisputed title.”