Ciryl Gane
Tom Aspinall
Conversation History
“If I don't finish the fight in the first minute, people think I'm looking sh*t. No, we're just evenly matched and we're having a fight. I've not punched him properly yet”
– via his YouTube channel, addressing the backlash to his performance against Ciryl Gane prior to the eye poke
“Obviously, the plan is to go back and beat the living daylights out of Ciryl Gane—that's the plan. But right now, the short term plan is to get back to where I should be, to get back in the gym.”
– via One on One MMA detailing his road to recovery and his singular focus on a rematch with the Frenchman
“Yeah, I’m pretty angry mate. I’m pretty angry about it. Mainly [at] Ciryl. Yeah, I think mainly Ciryl yeah. I’ve never accidentally done something in a fight. I don’t see how you can really, so I’ll leave it at that. I’m still under the notion like if someone’s fouling, if they do it once, you can deem it as an accident. If they do it twice, pause. The other person’s allowed a foul as well... We’re fighting, you kick me in the nuts once. The ref gives you five minutes whatever to recover however long they give. We restart, you do it again, the ref says, 'You stand there, open your legs, he gets a free one.”
– via an interview with Adam Catterall proposing his radical "Freebie Act" for fouls following his controversial No Contest against Ciryl Gane
“No sh*t there’s not a date yet. I’m not medically cleared to fight and about to have surgery thanks to your disgusting fingernails. I’ll be back to smash your face in soon you cheat”
– via Instagram, slamming Ciryl Gane for complaining about not having a fight booked, pointing out that their UFC 321 bout left him requiring surgery due to Gane's illegal eye pokes.
“Still no date or opponent yet... But we keep grinding and training hard before the holidays”
– via instagram
“All that training for that. What the f**k is he doing? He got warned twice before it. F**king did it again”
– reacted after Ciryl Gane’s brutal eye poke resulted in a no contest.
“But yeah, that eye poke? It hit different. At first, I was pissed—straight up angry—'cause I didn't want the ref stepping in like that. I was ready to keep going, push through. But then it sank in: disappointment, sadness, all of it. Felt bad for the fans too, you know? They came for a war, not this. And look, I get it—I’ve been there. Back when I fought Derrick Lewis, he nailed me with one, and I’m seeing double for like a whole round. Two Derricks swinging at me? Nightmare. So I totally feel for Tom; that shit hurts, messes with your vision, and in the heat of it, you just react. No one's lying about how brutal it is. Sucks for everybody involved.”
– detailing his immediate and later emotional reaction to the accidental eye poke that caused the no contest at UFC 321.
“Did he actually use the words 'deep waters'? Everybody who said the words 'deep waters' gets knocked out in the first minute. Go back and check the media that you've done. So, I'm pretty happy with that. That's good”
– via UFC 321 Media Day
“If I want, I can go very fast in the very first round. Maybe go to the deep waters with Tom Aspinall.”
– via UFC 321 Media day
“This is a stupid thing. If he wants his range, he needs to put his hand on the wall. Why does he need to put his hand on my shoulder?”
– via Full send MMA
“No, I think this is just another fight for me. I'm not like, I don't like to put that kind of pressure on myself. It's just like, 'I've got to fight, I've got an opponent, we've got to work towards that.' Cyril's like really good as well. So he's good. And I think he brings a whole new challenge that I've not really had before. The same that I have with him. He's just like, his style is different to a lot of heavyweights. He moves really well, he's nimble, super fit, super athletic.”
– reacted for his upcoming match against Gane