Former champion Michael Bisping has outlined what he sees as key missteps by Tom Aspinall and his team during fight week for UFC 321.

In the main event of UFC 321 last Saturday in Abu Dhabi, Tom Aspinall defended the heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane, but the bout was halted early after Gane landed an accidental double eye poke on Aspinall in the first round, prompting the referee to rule the fight as a no-contest.

Bisping said that the problems began well before the fight, pointing to a lack of media engagement and questionable public messaging from Aspinall’s camp.

“I know he dipped on a few interviews, a few interview obligations so people were grumbling about that,” said Bisping, according to Bloody Elbow. He also flagged a publicly aired discussion between Aspinall and commentator Daniel Cormier and comments from Aspinall’s father suggesting a post-fight shift to boxing. “Then there was the whole thing with DC… Whispering into the microphone, he didn’t need to release that, so he kind of dropped the ball a little bit there. And then his dad was talking about the boxing thing, like ‘After this contract we’re leaving’,” Bisping added.

Bisping further warned that these seemingly minor issues could carry significant consequences for Aspinall’s future standing with the promotion. “If you had of lost on Saturday night, good luck getting another title fight,” he added.

Looking ahead, although the bout ended controversially, UFC officials are expected to pursue a rematch between Aspinall and Gane to settle the title picture. In the meantime, those close to the champion will now likely shift focus toward refining not just his in-cage performance, but also his public and promotional presentation leading into major fights.

Others in the MMA community have weighed in on the event’s fallout, with some suggesting the promotion may be reassessing its support for fighters who show signs of disengagement during fight week. What remains clear is that for Aspinall, the eye-poke anomaly may not be the only story — and how his team responds to the criticism could shape his next steps more than the result itself.