Paddy Pimblett made a desperate plea to the UFC after Tom Aspinall's first heavyweight title defence ended in a no-contest following an accidental eye poke which left him unable to continue.
After 15 months of inactivity, Aspinall returned to the Octagon as UFC heavyweight champion following Jon Jones vacating the belt and squared off against former interim champ Ciryl Gane.
But the fight was waved off with just 15 seconds remaining in round one after challenger Gane caught Aspinall in both eyes with his flailing fingers.
Aspinall was given time to be assessed by the cageside doctor but repeatedly stressed that he could not see out of his right eye, leading to referee Jason Herzog calling the fight a no-contest as boos rang out at the Etihad Arena.
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A furious Aspinall let rip into the jeering fans in his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier.
Fellow British UFC star Paddy Pimblett was watching at home and was left in disbelief as he called the card "one of the biggest disappointments" ever when it comes to a UFC pay-per-view card.
Expressing his frustration for pal Aspinall, Pimblett noted that a change to the gloves must be made by UFC to avoid similar situations with eye pokes.
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"Anti-climatic as it gets," he said, reacting on his official YouTube channel.
"I think they've got to run that back - they can't not do that fight again. It was shaping up to be a good fight, the best test Tom's had so far in the UFC.
"Gutted for Tom and I feel bad for Ciryl Gane too even though it was his fault. It was unintentional, he didn't mean to.
"You need to do something with the gloves so that you can't do that with your fingers."
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A possible change to the gloves to prevent eye pokes has been a hot topic for a while now, with UFC commentator Rogan central to the conversation.
Joe Rogan came up with idea for new gloves
In an edition of his MMA show on the Joe Rogan Experience bag in September 2024, Rogan came up with a solution on how to fix the gloves in a way that he feels wouldn't have a massive impact on fighters.
"I keep saying it, but I feel they should cover those fingertips,” Rogan explained.
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“You’ve got to cover the fingers. There’s no reason to not cover the fingers like a bad glove.
“Just have a piece of leather that goes over the fingertips, so you have one thing. It’s not gonna invade your grappling, and it’s not gonna change your striking. It’s not going to change anything.
“This way, at least if you get poked in the eye you are getting a blunt thing, you are not getting something that goes into your eyeball.
“Have them all covered and have a soft-foamed ridge over the top of it. So even if you are getting poked in the eyes, you are not getting an individual thing going deep into your eyeball with an eyeball, which is what you get now. You get f***ing fingernails!”
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UFC did bring in a new glove design last year in the hope of reducing eye pokes amongst other injuries but they were extremely unpopular amongst fighters. After around seven months, UFC scrapped them completely and reverted back to the old design.
Asked about possibly exploring another glove design to combat the issue in the UFC 321 press conference, Dana White replied: “No matter what you do with the gloves, they’re gonna happen".
In comments which riled up fans as he said Aspinall was "bloodied up" and "didn't want to continue", White confirmed that a rematch is "what makes sense".
In a clip captured in his YouTube vlog, Aspinall was assessed by a doctor who was glad the fight was stopped but confirmed there was nothing dangerous spotted ahead of further planned tests in the UK.
Topics: Paddy Pimblett, Tom Aspinall, UFC
Josh Lawless