Tom Aspinall has raised concerns about the finishing sequence in Ciryl Gane’s TKO win over Alex Pereira at UFC Freedom 250, questioning whether some of the decisive shots were legal.
Gane stopped Pereira by second-round TKO to claim the interim heavyweight title at the UFC event, which took place Sunday at the White House in Washington DC. The French heavyweight dropped Pereira with a jab before closing the show with elbows and punches.
Watching the bout on his YouTube channel, Aspinall reacted in real time to the finishing blows. “They look a bit illegal,” he said, before doubling down moments later: “They look very illegal. What is going on? Dropped him with a jab. ... He looked good. I have to watch that again. It looked like there was a lot of illegal elbows going on and illegal punches, but generally he looked good. He (Pereira) just didn't really seem to get going, did he?”
Aspinall also critiqued Pereira’s performance overall, adding, “He just looked like a bit stiff and reserved from the beginning. I don't know if he was trying to feel his way into the fight or what, but he just never seemed to – he looked slow, but he's not a particularly fast light heavyweight.”
The UFC interim heavyweight champion and Gane previously met at UFC 321, where Aspinall’s first title defense ended in a no contest after an accidental eye poke by Gane in Round 1, which led to Aspinall undergoing double eye surgery. Looking ahead, Aspinall signaled he’s ready to run it back, saying, “Paris in September? I'll do that,” and, “Yeah, I'll do that. Let me know. I don't mind. I'll go to Paris. Let me know.”
