Poirier shares thoughts on Aspinall’s eye poke controversy

Dustin Poirier shared his thoughts on Tom Aspinall’s eye poke controversy, saying only he knows how bad it was.

Aspinall’s first undisputed heavyweight title defence against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 ended in a first-round no-contest on Saturday in Abu Dhabi.

Aspinall was hoping to start his highly anticipated title reign on a high note; however, when 25 seconds were left in the opening round, the Englishman suffered a nasty eye poke, and the bout was ruled a no-contest when the champion decided not to continue.

Aspinall admitted that he could no longer see out of one eye and refused to fight, leaving the crowd inside Etihad Arena unhappy.

"Guys, I just got poked knuckle deep in the eye ball, why are you booing?" a devastated Aspinall said. responding to the noise of the fans.

"This is bulls***, the fight was just getting going. I can hardly open my eye."

Meanwhile, former American mixed martial artist Poirier has also shared his thoughts on the controversy, saying only Aspinall knows the pain, but I've fought a lot of fights with one eye.

"A lot of people are asking me, 'What's up with Aspinall? What's up with the eye poke?' I don't know. Only he knows how bad it was. But I've been in a lot of fights where I've got eye poked and I continued," Dustin Poirier said.

Aspinall was rushed to a local hospital in Abu Dhabi after the incident, where he underwent tests and was assessed.

He was told by the local doctor there that he would need to undergo some more tests after he goes back home in England.