Aspinall vs Gane live: Reaction as UFC 321 fight ruled no-contest by eye poke

Ciryl Gane bossed that first round. His jab was getting through and he was hurting Tom Aspinall – something that was evident when the champ gave a wry “fair enough” smile after being caught.

We know how good Aspinall is and it wasn’t like he was on his way to losing after the first four-and-a-half minutes. But for the first time ever in his UFC career (apart from the Curtis Blaydes freak injury), it wasn’t clear that he was winning.

A true shame we didn’t get to see how this one played out.

Think Tom Aspinall was exaggerating? Think again. That really was “knuckle-deep”…

Tom Aspinall (C) vs. Ciryl Gane ends in no contest after unintentional eye poke

Mackenzie Dern (C) def. Virna Jandiroba via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46)

Umar Nurmagomedov def. Mario Bautista via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Alexander Volkov def. Jailton Almeida via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Azamat Murzakanov def. Aleksandar Rakic via first-round TKO (punches)

Quillan Salkilld def. Nasrat Haqparast via first-round knockout (head kick)

Ikram Aliskerov def. Jun Yong Park via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Ludovit Klein def. Mateusz Rebecki via majority decision (29-28, 28-27, 28-28)

Valter Walker def. Louie Sutherland via first-round submission (heel hook)

Nathaniel Wood def. Jose Delgado via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Hamdy Abdelwahab def. Chris Barnett via unanimous decision (29-26, 29-27, 29-27)

Mitch Raposo def Azat Maksum via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-27, 29-27)

Mizuki def. Jaqueline Amorim via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Wondering why Tom Aspinall vs Ciryl Gane ended in a no-contest rather than a DQ or Gane win?

Our man on the ground Alex Pattle explains the rules:

Not many make it out the first round with Tom Aspinall, but Ciryl Gane was very much on course to doing so. He was fighting so well. Heartbreak all round.