Stipe Miocic says Ciryl Gane '100 percent deserves' UFC title, Aspinall eye poke 'accidental'

Gane makes his first defence of the undisputed heavyweight title against Josh Hokit at UFC 334 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

Stipe Miocic says Ciryl Gane deserves to be the UFC heavyweight champion and believes the eye poke that ended his first fight with Tom Aspinall was an accident.

"I believe he deserves to be champion," Miocic said in an interview quoted by Bloody Elbow. "He was next up. He fought Tom and then was supposed to fight him again but then Tom's injury happened. But I absolutely think so. He was in line and he was ranked highest. I believe he 100 percent deserves it."

The former two-time heavyweight champion said: "In regard to the eye poke, why would he do that in the fight? I think he was just doing what he was supposed to do, and I think it was an accidental poke." He added: "Gane was in the driver's seat and didn't need to do anything reckless." He went on: "He's been performing at the top and he's 100 percent next up to be the man. I believe he deserves it and he's a tough dude."

Gane poked Aspinall in both eyes in their title fight at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi in October 2025, and Aspinall was unable to continue. Gane then knocked out Alex Pereira to become interim champion, and was elevated to undisputed champion when Aspinall vacated the title after a setback in his recovery. Gane has said he knows he is not a cheater, and Dominick Cruz has also defended him over the eye pokes. Miocic has already picked Gane to beat Josh Hokit.

Gane defends the title against Hokit in the UFC 334 main event on Saturday 14 November. It will be only the second undisputed heavyweight title fight since Miocic's last fight, a loss to Jon Jones in November 2024.

READ NEXTCiryl Gane on Josh Hokit: 'He pretends he's a clown, he's stupid, but he's not'Read the next story →

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