Daniel Cormier has revealed what he saw backstage after Tom Aspinall's no contest at UFC 321 against Ciryl Gane following an accidental eye poke.
The heavyweight bout was at the top of the main card in Abu Dhabi with the UFC Heavyweight Championship on the line.
However, the fight was ended in the first round with 4:35 on the clock after Gane accidentally poked Aspinall in both eyes and it meant the champion was unable to continue.
The fight was therefore declared as a no contest, meaning Aspinall retains the UFC Heavyweight Championship, but was booed by the crowd when he was interviewed in the octagon post-fight.
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Aspinall - who was taken to hospital after the fight and did not attend a post-bout press conference - said: "Guys, I just got poked knuckle deep in the eyeball. Why are you booing? I can't see.
"The fight was just getting going. I can hardly open my eye. Look! It was a double eye poke."
It means Aspinall's MMA record stands at 15 wins from 19 matches, with three losses and now one no context.
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Frenchman Gane was sorry for all involved in the fight and appeared as frustrated at the outcome as Aspinall.
He said: "I feel sorry. I'm sorry for the crowd, for the fans, I'm sorry for Tom Aspinall and sorry for myself.
"We put a lot of energy in this fight so I'm disappointed, but this is the sport, this is life.
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"I don't know what is going to happen for the future, but we will see."
Gane's record now stands at 13 wins from 16 MMA bouts, with two defeats and a non contest.
UFC Hall of Fame member Cormier held the Heavyweight Championship and the Light Heavyweight Championship during his time in the franchise before retiring in 2020.
Cormier's MMA record stands at an impressive 22 wins from 26 matches, with three losses and one no contest.
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The 46-year-old has revealed what he saw backstage with Aspinall and the extent of the injuries he suffered, including that one of his eyes was covered with a bandage more than 20 minutes after the fight had ended.
He said: "I saw Tom Aspinall, his right eye is covered in a bandage because he cannot open it still - we're 20 minutes past the fight ending.
"What's crazy about that is his other eye was the one where his hand went knuckle deep. The right side was scraped down more.
"The left side was the one that went knuckle deep and really would have been hard to deal with, if not for the pain he was feeling on the other side.
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"Tom was very upset that people were booing, and then people saw the replay and were like 'wait a minute, maybe we should be booing the other guy', then they booed Ciryl Gane."
Topics: UFC, Daniel Cormier, Tom Aspinall, MMA
John McDougall