MMA Legend Alistair Overeem Breaks Down Tom Aspinall’s Eye Poke Controversy: “Excruciating Pain”
Alistair Overeem sympathizes with Tom Aspinall.
After being crowned the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion earlier this year following Jon Jones’ “retirement” from the sport, Aspinall’s first official title defense against Ciryl Gane couldn’t have been more of a letdown.
With nearly 30 seconds left in the opening round, Gane inadvertently poked Aspinall in both his eyes. After spending several minutes wiping his eyes and attempting to recover, the Brit made it clear he could not see, prompting referee Jason Herzog to call off the contest, ruling it a no-contest.
Since then, Aspinall has been the recipient of heavy criticism from fighters, fans, and pundits, all claiming that Aspinall took “the easy way out” and showed a lack of fighting spirit.
However, Overeem believes Aspinall made the right decision.
“We can all see iin the pictures that the eye poke was very deep,” Overeem told Bloody Elbow. “I don’t know if you ever had an eye poke, but it can be very painful, and especially if it’s going in that deep, there’s going to be damage. Even if there would not be permanent damage, even if it’s just a bruise, it’s very painful because behind your eyes is about this thick, your brain is behind, and it hurts. Looking at his face, you could see he was in pain.
“If you’re in a fight, adrenaline levels spike, and you’re not supposed to feel pain. So if you’re in a fight and you feel pain, after the fight, when those adrenaline levels drop, you’re going to be in excruciating pain. I think Aspinall made the right call to decide not to fight, and I think we can all be happy that he doesn’t have permanent eye damage.”
Following the eye-poke incident, Dana White suggested that an immediate rematch could be booked between the two, though no official details regarding when and where have been announced.
