Copyright Yardbarker
For most fans, UFC 321’s main event was intended to be the fight that would reshape the heavyweight division. Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Gane had built up excitement for months, with their rivalry guaranteeing fireworks in Abu Dhabi. However, when the time came, chaos broke out before it could even ignite. What was supposed to be the division’s crowning moment turned into a frustrating no-contest, with fans and even other fighters like Israel Adesanya wondering why they even stayed up to watch. When Gane’s outstretched fingers caught Aspinall in the eyes, the crowd’s roar changed to confusion. The Brit quickly grasped his face, squinting and wincing as the referee signaled a halt. Moments later, Tom Aspinall‘s anger dominated the arena as he complained about being poked “knuckle deep” and accused fans of booing him unfairly. His frustration was intense and justifiable; both eyeballs had been struck, ending what was shaping up to be an exciting fight before it even found rhythm. Ciryl Gane, visibly sorry, attempted to minimize the damage, but the replay revealed the truth: it was a nasty, unintentional jab that changed everything. Back home, Israel Adesanya and his buddies were watching the chaos unfold live. The former middleweight champion and his team appeared completely crushed in a reaction video shared on YouTube. “That doesn’t look like that,” one of his friends said, staring at the screen in disbelief. Another sighed, “Bro, you’ve got to be joking. I’ve been up since 5:00 a.m. yesterday.” The exhaustion of attending a wedding just a day before, mixed with disappointment at the finish, presented an accurate image of how many fans felt. For a bout billed as one of the year’s biggest, the conclusion felt almost viciously anticlimactic. By the eighth minute of his video, Adesanya had summed up the feeling with a single brief caption: “We just stayed up all night.” His resigned chuckle when the referee called it off spoke louder than any criticism could. “Oh, wow. Oh well. Good fight,” he said, half in irony, half in disbelief. It wasn’t rage; it was a shared sense of disappointment that comes when a long-awaited moment fades before it begins. It is worth noting that Israel Adesanya isn’t the only fighter who got vocal about UFC 321 failing to deliver, as UFC legend Henry Cejudo also went all out to call this mega-event one of the worst ever in the promotion’s history. Henry Cejudo labels Tom Aspinall-headlined UFC 321 the worst card in history If Israel Adesanya’s reaction portrayed how fans felt from home, Henry Cejudo’s words mirrored the anger inside the arena. The former double champion, who had flown to Abu Dhabi expecting a statement night, was disappointed by yet another anticlimactic ending. Cejudo, who had experienced a similar eye poke loss earlier this year, understood Aspinall’s frustration right away. So, when the main fight ended prematurely, he didn’t mince words, declaring UFC 321 “the worst card in UFC history.” In his video reaction, Cejudo compared the situation to his own experience and criticized the card’s general quality. “You see the comparison to what happened to my eye? It doesn’t take much,” he said. “This is probably the worst card that the UFC has ever put together—straight up. From the co-main to the main event, it just couldn’t get any worse. Horrible decisions, judging… the whole nine. Wake me up when this card ends.” Coming from someone with his credentials, the statement effectively summarized how far the event fell short of expectations. But Henry Cejudo’s dissatisfaction was not limited to poor entertainment; it also included concerns about fighter safety. “It takes about a year for your eye to come back to normal,” he said. “Even now, my eye turns red from pollution because of scar tissue.” His words not only defended Aspinall, but they also highlighted an issue that the UFC has yet to address. Despite testing new gloves to prevent pokes, the promotion returned to the original design in response to fighter resistance, leaving everyone to cope with the consequences once again.
