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After an unfortunate eye poke ended proceedings early, Tom Aspinall managed to retain his world title against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321. Given the unwanted finish to the event, Dana White revealed his rematch plans for heavyweight gold.
Less than one round into his highly anticipated return on Saturday, the Brit suffered an illegal shot that forced him out of the fight. Many believe ‘Bon Gamin’ was getting the better of the champion, with some even considering the eye poke to be the perfect excuse for Aspinall to quit on himself.
Disappointed with the outcome, like most, Dana White shared his thoughts on what went down in Abu Dhabi on October 25.
“The main event was a nightmare,” White told the media. “After the [Jon] Jones fight, a lot of people wrote Ciryl Gane off. He looked damn good tonight.”
White later provided details on who’s next for Tom Aspinall. Several names are closing in on potential shots at UFC gold, but a rematch looks likely to the boss.
“They’re both in shape, other than whatever’s wrong with his eye. Both guys are not injured. So, [we’ll book the rematch] as soon as possible.”
“I can’t make people fight. If I want to put together a fight, I can’t make people fight. And you definitely can’t make someone continue if they feel they’ve been injured.”
“Only Tom knows what happened. Could he see, couldn’t he see? Could he continue? Only he knows that.”
Related: Jon Jones trolls Tom Aspinall after anticlimactic end to UFC 321
“What makes sense is to do the rematch. It makes sense. Sitting here tonight, I said yeah, that makes sense. I’m not saying that’s what’s going to happen.”
“Anything can happen between now and when I get home… I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m not saying anybody’s going to be a number one contender outside of Ciryl Gane.”
“But right here, right now, being honest, which I never do this ever, is talk about what next fight’s going to happen. The rematch is what makes sense.”
