Ciryl Gane accepts blame for Aspinall eye poke at UFC 320

Ciryl Gane has taken full responsibility for the double eye poke that ended his heavyweight title fight against Tom Aspinall at UFC 320 last October.

The bout was ruled a no contest in the first round after Gane unintentionally struck Aspinall in both eyes simultaneously, per Sherdog. Aspinall could not continue despite using four of the five allotted minutes to recover from the injury.

Gane explains what went wrong in Aspinall clash

Gane said he mistimed a body kick, which prompted Aspinall to surge forward. Reacting instinctively, the Frenchman extended his arm to create space and inadvertently caught Aspinall's eyes with his fingers. "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," Gane said on a UFC Countdown video. "And the first thing I pushed was his head. Unfortunately, I touched his eyes… It was a mistake; it was my mistake."

With Aspinall still recovering, Gane is now set to face Alex Pereira for an interim heavyweight strap in the co-main event of the UFC White House card on June 14. Gane said he plans to unify the belt against Aspinall after handling Pereira. "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," he added.

Some observers felt Gane was controlling the brief exchanges before the stoppage, though the fight never reached a point where momentum could shift decisively either way.

Original reporting:

• sherdog.com — Ciryl Gane opens up on eye poke against Tom Aspinall