Tom Aspinall: 'Big cheater' Ciryl Gane intentionally eye poked

Tom Aspinall is convinced Ciryl Gane was intentionally trying to poke him in the eyes last month during their UFC heavyweight title fight.

Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC), who's remained silent since the infamous eye poke incident that ruled his first undisputed title fight a no contest, opened up about the health of his eye, along with everything that transpired at UFC 321. The Englishman held back no punches when addressing Gane and his eye pokes that injured Aspinall.

"When it initially happened, I didn't really think much of it," Aspinall said in a video posted on his YouTube channel. "I thought, 'Accidental eye poke.' Whatever. Look, when I watch the fight back, that's when I get the gist of what's going on. The guy was trying to poke my eyes out all the way through that round. In multiple exchanges, in every exchange I could put him in danger, he had his fingers out pointing at my eyes. ... The guy was cheating from the first second. The way he wanted to win in that fight was to have me compromised by cheating.

"I think he's a big cheater. Look at all his fights. Even Jon Jones himself, the GOAT himself, said that Ciryl Gane is a cheater and uses dirty tactics."

Aspinall said he's still not medically cleared to fight and hasn't even been training. He continues to monitor his eye with specialists, and said surgery is even something being contemplated. An immediate rematch between Aspinall and Gane is supposed to take place in the near future, according to UFC CEO Dana White.

Many fans have accused Aspinall of faking the injury or exaggerating the gravity, although he was clearly eye poked in the fight against Gane, claiming Aspinall didn't want to continue a fight he was likely losing, at least in those few minutes of the first round.

Apart from going off on Gane, Aspinall also clapped back at the critics, who've been pestering him online.

"I felt like the fight was going okay, pretty much to plan," Aspinall said. "There was a big notion in the media that I was just going to run through Gane. Look, I might look like an idiot. Sometimes, I might talk like an idiot. But when it comes to fighting, I know what I'm talking about, and I know Ciryl Gane is a tough matchup for me. He's really good defensively. He's got really good defense and moves very well on his feet. I knew that I had to stand in range and take a few punches from Ciryl in order to land my own.

"We knew that. That was happening. I had a bloody nose. Any of my sparring partners know, you only have to look at that thing. ... I've broken my nose like two or three times in my life. Touch my nose and it will bleed. These things happen in fights. Was he hitting me with a few jabs? Yes. Was I hitting him with a few shots as well? Yes. I thought it was going to be a five-round fight. Go look at my pre-fight stuff."

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Tom Aspinall: 'Big cheater' Ciryl Gane intentionally eye poked