Joe Rogan has stated that he feels the way the Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane matchup ended was “a crime in the sport”, and feels the fans missed out on a very intriguing direction that the fight was heading.
Aspinall stepped under the bright lights of Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi last October at UFC 321 in an attempt to defend his heavyweight title for the first time versus former interim champion Ciryl Gane. Throughout the first round, the Englishman fell victim to multiple eye pokes from Gane, and ultimately could not continue the match, which forced a no contest.
While Aspinall is still trying to overcome the injuries to his eyes from the Gane match, he remains the heavyweight champion. The match between the pair was expected to be rebooked for later this year, but with Aspinall’s comeback timeline unknown, a match for the interim heavyweight title was scheduled between Gane and Alex Pereira for June 14th at the White House for UFC Freedom 250.
‼️👀 Joe Rogan says the stoppage in Tom Aspinall vs Ciryl Gane was a crime
“It is a crime that that fight with Aspinall got stopped the way it did. It’s a crime. That fight was playing out in a very interesting direction because Aspinall was having a really hard time touching… pic.twitter.com/3NFSYRik1i
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) March 17, 2026
“He was getting busted up, touched up a lot. Ciryl’s jab is legit! And how many times has he been to the second round? My thought was: the real problem that Aspinall was going to present is in the grappling, he’s a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, big f—-, fast and has a great [double-leg]. But when he was standing there in front of Ciryl Gane, this was the first time that he was facing a guy who was agile, quick, and very technical.
“Ciryl Gane was doing a lot of sneaky s—.”