Gane Says His "Mentally Fragile" Remark on Aspinall Was Misread

"Fragile" was the wrong word, Ciryl Gane says, and "emotional" was the one he meant. He was talking about Tom Aspinall, and he was talking days before he defends the heavyweight title at UFC 334.

The question at media day

Gane had described Aspinall as "mentally fragile" while discussing his long hiatus from fighting. The line raised eyebrows. At the UFC 334 media day press conference, a reporter asked whether he regretted it.

Gane said the comment was pulled from a longer thought. "It was out of context, the context was we were talking about Tom, and how we prepared the camp for him," he said.

Emotional, not fragile

His camp, he explained, looked back at Aspinall's earlier fights and saw an emotional fighter. That was the expectation going into preparation.

Gane applied the same word to the aftermath of UFC 321. He said Aspinall handled the eye poke with a lot of emotion and tried to convince people that he had been hurt.

The cheater label

Gane described his own side of that night. "I was in a bad position, because people talked about me like a cheater," he said.

Aspinall has repeatedly called Gane a cheater since the fight. As of the report, he has not said when he plans to return to the Octagon.

How the two got here

UFC 321 took place in October 2025. Gane accidentally poked Aspinall in both eyes, and the fight was ruled a no contest. That result gives neither man a win or a loss. Aspinall has not fought since.

He then vacated the heavyweight title to recover from his eye injuries, which made Gane the lineal champion. That means Gane holds the belt by succession, not by beating the previous holder for it.

This Saturday Gane faces Josh Hokit at UFC 334. If he wins, a rematch with Aspinall could be next, depending on when Aspinall is ready to come back.

Source: BJPenn.com