Tom Aspinall has accused Ciryl Gane of throwing illegal elbows during his victory over Alex Pereira at the UFC interim heavyweight title fight on Saturday night. Gane secured a second-round knockout of Pereira, setting up a potential rematch with Aspinall after their previous bout ended in a no contest due to an eye poke.
Aspinall, speaking on his YouTube channel, claimed Gane used illegal strikes during the fight. “It looked like there was a lot of illegal elbows going on, illegal punches,” he said. Despite the accusations, Aspinall acknowledged Gane’s performance, adding, “Generally, he looked good.”
The pair first met in October, when the fight was stopped in the opening round after Gane poked Aspinall in both eyes. Gane has since called for a rematch, suggesting Paris in September as a potential venue. Aspinall responded, “Paris in September? I’ll do that. I’ll go to Paris. Let me know. I’ll be there.” However, the UFC is likely to host the fight in the United States.
UFC CEO Dana White was non-committal about the rematch, stating, “I’m not thinking about that right now.” He praised Gane’s performance, noting, “Ciryl looked great tonight. A guy we always say he’s a heavyweight that moves like a middleweight and he definitely looked like one tonight.”
