Tom Aspinall and Cyril Jean’s UFC 321 match ends in controversy
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – Champion Tom Aspinall and top seed Cyril Jean were unable to make it past the opening round of their heavyweight main event at UFC 321 inside Etihad Arena before the bout was ruled a no contest.
Both Aspinall (15-3-0) and Gane (13-2-0) came out with plenty of energy until an accidental double eye poke led to an official timeout at the 4:35 mark of the first round.
Aspinall (15-3-0) was unable to see out of his right eye during the allotted five-minute intermission, and at 4:09 of stoppage time, the game was ruled a no contest.
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This was Aspinall’s first defense as undisputed heavyweight champion.
“What am I supposed to do about it? I can’t see,” Aspinall said disappointedly, speaking in the ring in response to a chorus of boos throughout the arena. “That’s an (expletive). The battle was just beginning.”
Jin knelt down, also disappointed, when the ring announcer made the official announcement.
“I feel sorry,” Jin said. “I’m so sorry about that.”
After the match, UFC President Dana White was upset, According to MMA fightingbut he said that there would be a rematch, contradicting his slogan of not guaranteeing rematches immediately after the matches.
“I feel what everyone feels. Great show, bad ending,” White said in the post-fight press conference at UFC 321. “I think after the (Jon) Jones fight, a lot of people wrote off Cyril Jean. He looked very good tonight. It looked like we were in for a few rounds, and it was going to be a good fight.
“So much pain in the ass but yeah (we’ll book the rematch),” White added. “Both are in good condition, other than what happened to his eye. Both men are uninjured. As soon as possible.”
“I can’t make people fight. If I want to get into a fight, I can’t make people fight. You certainly can’t make someone go on if he feels he’s hurt. Only Tom knows what’s happened. Can he see? Can’t he see? Can he go on? Only Tom knows that.”
Aspinall got off to a fast start, with the champion wasting no time landing powerful shots on Jane.
However, Gene, known for his elusive footwork, showed no intimidation and stood toe-to-toe as he took command in the center of the cage.
Jin used a sharp blow to spill blood on the hero. When Aspinall took his shot, Ginn successfully defended it midway through the round. When Aspinall tried to chop off the cage, Gene did a good job of spinning out of it while landing punches and low kicks.
In the final minute of the round, Gene continued to pummel Aspinall until he punched him in the eye.
In an intense co-main event in which both women exited the cage with an injured right eye, fifth contender Mackenzie Dern (16-5-0) won the vacant strawweight belt over top-ranked Verna Jandiroba (22-4-0) by unanimous decision.
Although both fighters had impressive moments in some closely contested rounds, Dern’s left hand was more effective and damaging.
Upon hearing the ring announcer announce her name as the new champion and the belt wrapped around her waist, the 32-year-old Brazilian fell to her knees in tears.
“It feels great,” Dern said. “I need to see Moa. This is for Moa.”
Dern was then joined in the cage by her 6-year-old daughter, Moa, who slung the UFC belt on her shoulder.
From the bottom card:
No. 2 Omar Nurmagomedov (19-1-0) earned a unanimous decision over No. 8 Mario Bautista (16-3-0) in a battle of top-ranked bantamweights.
Second-ranked heavyweight contender Alexander Volkov (39-11-0) won by split decision over No. 5 Jelton Almeida (22-4-0)
In the light heavyweight division, 10th-ranked Azamat Merzkanov (16-0-0) quickly overcame 7th-ranked Aleksandar Rakic (14-6-0). A first-round stoppage of Murzakanov extended the UFC’s second-longest active winning streak in the division to six straight.
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