The final result of Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane has been challenged after the referee's comments from UFC 321 have emerged.
Aspinall's UFC heavyweight title bout against Gane ended in a no contest after he suffered an eye injury in the first round of their main-event showdown last Saturday.
Gane caught his rival's right eye with his fingers with a punch, resulting in a five-minute timeout.
Aspinall received medical attention from inside the Octagon and told the doctor that he 'can't see'.
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After the medical timeout expired, with the Brit unable to continue, referee Jason Herzog had no choice but to call off the clash as a no contest
It meant Aspinall retained his title.
He was transported to hospital immediately after the conclusion of his fight, where he was attended to by doctors, including an eye specialist, who made his feelings clear on the outcome of the bout.
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Aspinall, who had his eye patched up, provided an update on his eye injury.
Speaking after UFC 321, Ariel Helwani shared his thoughts on what transpired in Abu Dhabi and referenced Herzog's comments to Gane during the medical timeout.
After Gane eye poked Aspinall, Herzog could he heard saying: "I know it wasn't intentional but it's still a foul."
Helwani suggests Herzog was set to deduct a point away from Gane had the fight resumed.
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Of course, the fight was called off but declared a no contest.
On Herzog's comments, Helwani said: "That suggests to me that he was going to take a point away, right? If in fact the fight resumed. And I feel like they heard the criticism from last week and you saw here Andy Foster even alluded this to me like they need to stop with the warnings and just penalise, right?
"If he was on the verge of taking a point away, shouldn't that be a DQ? If he was going to reprimand him for the foul, shouldn't that be a DQ?"
It remains to be seen whether the result of Aspinall vs. Gane will be overturned following Helwani's suggestion.
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Tom Aspinall questions no contest verdict at UFC 321
Aspinall made a successful defence of his UFC heavyweight title but not in the style he would have wanted.
He is also of the impression that Gane should have been disqualified following his eye poke that derailed their UFC 321 showdown.
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The 32-year-old said: "How is he not disqualified after that? People start booing me like it's my fault. I got poked in the eye, mate. I just trained for 14 months.
"Trust me, I didn't want someone's finger knuckle deep in my eye. That's the last thing I wanted."
Topics: Tom Aspinall, UFC
Nasir Jabbar