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Following UFC 321 this past weekend, Tom Aspinall has received some criticism. In just one example, a fellow UFC heavyweight claimed that Aspinall made the division “look bad” after he couldn’t continue in his first defense of the undisputed title. The fight was ruled a no contest before the first round came to a close due to two eye pokes that the champion suffered at the same time. It seems that Aspinall, the victim of the pokes has been criticized, far more than his opponent in Abu Dhabi, Ciryl Gane. A former UFC heavyweight champion believes that it isn’t just the challenger who should shoulder some of the blame following a disastrous main event. Bas Rutten says eye pokes are either on purpose or the coach’s fault Some fans questioned whether Ciryl Gane has a track record for being a dirty fighter after what happened at UFC 321. It still seems like Gane will receive another shot at the title, even if it was his actions that caused the main event to come to a sudden and disappointing end. Former UFC heavyweight champion Bas Rutten believes that it’s completely clear and obvious what the rules are and who is to blame if they aren’t followed. The MMA legend has been able to use his vast experience to coach other fighters, including Mark Kerr as seen in A24’s ‘The Smashing Machine’. Rutten, who has recently culminated his knowledge into his new ‘Fighting Machine’ workout, told Bloody Elbow that it’s the role of a coach to make sure a fighter isn’t extending his fingers and putting opponents at risk. “We all know it’s illegal. We all know it’s not good. We all know this (extending his hand) is a stupid thing to do to keep your opponent off. That’s either the coaches fault or it’s done on purpose. Now, do I say it’s on purpose? Of course not, I’m not saying that, but I wondered it too. The coach will have said the whole training camp, ‘Don’t put your fingers out because there is a chance that this might happen.'” Tom Aspinall’s dad made a similar point to Bas Rutten after UFC 321 In a video on October 28, Tom Aspinall’s dad provided a health update on the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion. Andy Aspinall also gave his thoughts on everything that happened in the same video, where he made a similar point to Bas Rutten. “If a guy’s defending like that (hand and fingers stretched), he should be taught not to defend like that.” Aspinall stressed in the video that he doesn’t believe anything will be done about eye pokes, which is the part that he finds the most frustrating. “I’m just bothered that my kid’s got a job that he likes and he wants to do it and he’s been fouled in a contest. The guy who fouled him, no consequence to him and now there’s a consequence to Tom.”
