Ciryl Gane is downplaying the severity of the eye poke that ultimately reshaped the heavyweight division, and he’s using his own history to make the point.
“The way I felt when I poked him in the eye, it wasn’t violent, wasn’t violent at all. It looked violent, but I felt like it wasn’t violent,” Gane said via ZackNaniTV.
Ciryl Gane Now the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion Heading Into a Title Defense
Ciryl Gane’s comments come at a pivotal moment for him personally. Following the no-contest at UFC 321, where his eye poke on Tom Aspinall led to the fight being ruled a no-contest, Gane went on to capture the interim heavyweight title by knocking out Alex Pereira at UFC Freedom 250. He was then elevated to undisputed champion after Tom Aspinall vacated the belt due to his ongoing eye complications.
Gane is now set to make his first defense of the undisputed title against undefeated contender Josh Hokit in the main event of UFC 334 on November 14 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Ciryl Gane Draws on His Own Eye Poke Experience Against Derrick Lewis
Ciryl Gane pointed to a prior incident in his own career to argue that eye pokes, even serious-looking ones, don’t always carry lasting consequences the way critics assume.
“It happened to me against Derrick Lewis when I won the belt. He poked me in the eye, I had double vision for 3 or 4 minutes,” Gane said.
He added that on a separate occasion, he continued fighting after being poked without ever complaining.
“He poked me in the eye and I didn’t get my vision back, and I kept fighting like that. I didn’t complain. These things happen.”
Tom Aspinall’s Road Back: Vacated Title, Social Media Break, and a January Scan
Tom Aspinall’s situation has played out very differently. After suffering the eye injury against Gane at UFC 321, Aspinall underwent multiple surgeries and was working his way back toward a potential rematch when a sparring accident caused further damage to his right eye.
That setback led him to vacate the heavyweight title rather than continue holding up the division, and he’s since announced he’s stepping away from social media to focus solely on his recovery. According to reports, Aspinall is scheduled for another eye scan in January 2027, with doctors set to determine at that point whether further surgery will be needed based on how the injury has healed.
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