UFC president Dana White has been criticised by some corners of the internet after he appeared to take a subtle dig at Tom Aspinall following his first defence of the undisputed heavyweight title.
After more than 450 days on the sidelines, Aspinall returned to action on Saturday night as he came up against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321.
It was a promising start to the contest in Abu Dhabi, with both fighters getting into their groove, but proceedings came to a halt towards the end of round one, when Gane accidentally punctured both of Aspinall's eyes with his fingers.
Aspinall was given time to recover but after a brief stoppage, the bout was deemed a no-contest after the defending champion declared that he could not see.
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Speaking in his post-fight interview, a furious Apsinall labelled his first title defence "b******t" after it was stopped in the first round.
"Guys, I just got f***ing poked knuckle deep in the eyeball," he said in the octagon. "What the f**k? Why are you booing? What am I supposed to do about it? I didn't do the f***ing poke. I can't see."
He added: "This is bulls**t. The fight was just getting going. Complete bulls**t. I'm p***ed off. I can hardly open my eye. Look. Look. Look at this. Look at this. Fucking double poke. Both eyeballs. Yeah, it was double. It was double."
Dana White appears to aim subtle dig at Tom Apsinall
Speaking in his post-match press conference on Saturday night, UFC president Dana White was full of praise for Gane.
“I feel the way everybody feels,” he said. “Great showing, s***y ending, you know? I think that after the Jones fight, a lot of people wrote Ciryl Gane off, he looked damn good tonight. It was good, it looked like we were in for a few rounds and it was going to be a good fight.”
White then declared that Gane and Aspinall will have an immediate rematch, although his comments about the latter have sparked controversy.
Asked about a potential rematch, he said: "Total pain in the a** but yeah. It’s unfortunate it ended the way that it did and yes, I think that there probably will be a lot more interest in the rematch after [Gane] had Tom bloodied up and Tom didn’t want to continue in the fight."
“So the rematch is very interesting," added White. "Right here, right now, being honest – I never do this when it comes to talking about what next fight is going to happen – the rematch is what makes sense.”
Many brought up White's press conference comments, including X user AFeldmanMMA, who slammed the UFC president for his take.
"Imagine your own promoter saying you, Tom Aspinall, the UFC heavyweight champion of the world, “didn’t want to continue in the fight” instead of admitting you literally couldn’t continue because your eyes were mangled by a double eye poke," he wrote.
"Insane 'promotional' approach. If you’re a fighter, next time you and your manager sit down to negotiate, just remember how little most promoters actually care about your well-being."
Another fan commented: "It was a bad eye poke. Crazy what Dana said," and a third added: "The disrespect is crazy."
Thoughts on White's comments? Let us know.
Topics: Dana White, Tom Aspinall, UFC
Jack Kenmare