**Ciryl Gane’s Coach Fernand Lopez Reacts to Tom Aspinall Eye Poke Incident at UFC 321**
Ciryl Gane’s coach, Fernand Lopez, recently shared his thoughts on the controversial eye poke incident involving Tom Aspinall at UFC 321 last weekend. The veteran coach claimed that everything was “going as planned” for their camp.
Gane and Aspinall faced off in a highly anticipated heavyweight title fight at UFC 321. During the opening round, Aspinall was brutally poked in the eyes by Gane and was unable to continue fighting. As a result, the referee declared the bout a no-contest, with Aspinall retaining the heavyweight title.
In an interview with Daniel Cormier immediately after the event, Lopez addressed the incident:
*”Ciryl looked good there. For us, everything was going as planned. Absolutely planned. Unfortunately, if he can’t see, he can’t see. There’s nothing we can do about it. So disappointed.”*
You can watch Fernand Lopez’s comments at the 12:58 mark below.
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### Chael Sonnen Slams Ciryl Gane Following Eye Poke Incident
In the aftermath of UFC 321, MMA analyst Chael Sonnen took shots at Ciryl Gane and urged Tom Aspinall to reject the idea of a rematch between the two fighters. Sonnen slammed Gane for allegedly “cheating multiple times” and highlighted that Gane poked Aspinall in both eyes during their fight.
In a recent YouTube video, Sonnen reacted to the Aspinall-Gane eye poke incident, expressing his dismay at the situation:
*”And that’s the thing that we left without. I mean, if I’m in Tom’s shoes, everything is possible right now, including denying the rematch. So, [Gane’s] a cheater. He cheated multiple times. I wanted to fight him. I wanted to give him an opportunity. I’ve done all of those things. I’m moving on. I don’t fight guys who are cheaters.”*
He continued:
*”It wasn’t an eye poke. It was a double eye poke. It wasn’t one finger went knuckle deep. Two fingers. Slow it down. Both of them go knuckle deep. And in that regard, I don’t love the idea of unintentional. I do believe that’s the rule, and I believe the rule was properly followed. I’m not giving Jason Herzog a hard time, but I’m opening the door to it, particularly for the future.”*
Sonnen went on to emphasize the consistency of certain rules in MMA since 1993:
*”We’ve got two constants as far as the rules go from 1993 till now. Don’t bite the guy. Don’t poke the son of a bi*ch in his eyes. Those are the two rules. So when one of them is violated, it’s very frustrating when somebody can go out and grab the fabric, grab the shorts, and a warning happens.”*
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Stay tuned for further updates on the Aspinall vs. Gane situation and potential rematch plans.
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https://www.sportskeeda.com/mma/news-ciryl-gane-s-coach-fernand-lopez-addresses-ufc-321-aftermath-if-can-t-see-can-t-see
