UFC legend Demetrious Johnson has explained the one thing that MMA fans don't understand about Ciryl Gane poking Tom Aspinall in the eye during their title fight.
The highly-anticipated return of UFC heavyweight champion Aspinall ended in disaster on Saturday night as the Brit was forced to retire from the fight early due to an injury caused by an eye poke in the first round.
After a competitive opening round, Aspinall's opponent, Ciryl Gane, accidentally pressed his fingers into both of his opponent's eyes, causing severe pain and a loss of vision that led to the fight being deemed a no contest.
Since the incident, fans and several other notable names within the MMA community have spoken out to have their say about the incident, with many disagreeing on who is to blame for the premature ending.
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But amongst all of the debate online, former flyweight champion Johnson has revealed the one thing that hasn't yet been mentioned about the disappointing incident.
Ever since the fight was called off, some UFC fans have criticised Aspinall, suggesting that he quit or gave up following Gane's strong start to the fight.
Meanwhile others have called on Gane to receive backlash from the UFC for having his fingers splayed while pressing on Aspinall's face, the action that ultimately caused the injury.
But while breaking the fight down on a video for his YouTube channel, former champion Johnson defended Gane, saying that, while it was unfortunate, his movement was completely natural.
Speaking on YouTube, he said: "It’s MMA. It’s a natural reaction [to open your hands], when somebody comes towards you.
"That’s one thing what people don’t understand. In Muay Thai, when you kick, you need to keep your hands out. Even in gloves, my hands are always open inside the gloves.
"People don't understand, they're always talking about 'when are we going to fix eye pokes in mixed martial arts?'
"Newsflash, you're never going to f****** do it. The reason why is as human beings our natural reaction when something comes towards us is to open my hands and stick them out."
Following Aspinall's injury, Gane immediately approached his opponent to apologise to him and assure him that the pokes were completely unintentional.
But that didn't stop Aspinall from making his feeling about the situation clear in a frustrated rant aimed towards fans booing him inside the Etihad arena.
Thankfully, it appears that the pair will again have the opportunity to settle their rivalry after UFC president and CEO Dana White confirmed that they would rebook the fight once Aspinall was fit.
At the time of writing, it is not known when the rematch could take place as the severity of Aspinall's injury remains unclear,
Topics: UFC, MMA, Tom Aspinall, Demetrious Johnson
Ben McCrum