A UFC heavyweight contender has weighed in on Tom Aspinall’s eye injury. Aspinall, who was making the first defense of his undisputed heavyweight championship at UFC 321, was poked in the eye in the opening frame of the bout by challenger Ciryl Gane, after which he was not able to continue.
The bout was declared a no-contest, and the Brit retained his championship. Many in the MMA world subsequently concluded that Aspinall chose not to continue because he thought Gane was the superior man that evening. But when Aspinall’s medical records eventually came to light, it was discovered that he had been diagnosed with “bilateral traumatic Brown’s syndrome” after being poked in the eye.