UFC heavyweight Ciryl Gane has tried to explain his controversial double eye poke that led to Tom Aspinall requiring surgery.

As we know, Ciryl Gane is set to compete for the interim UFC heavyweight championship at UFC Freedom 250. He will be going up against Alex Pereira, and the fight comes in the wake of his controversial no contest against Tom Aspinall, which happened as a result of the Frenchman committing a nasty double eye poke on Tom that left him unable to continue.

RELATED: Tom Aspinall reacts to Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane booking for UFC Freedom 250

Ever since then, Gane and Aspinall have both had things to say about how things played out, and you can see that Tom is eager to get back and compete against Ciryl, if only to finally put their rivalry to rest.

In a recent interview, Gane opened up on the eye poke situation as he prepares to make his return to the cage.

Gane gives his thoughts on Aspinall eye poke

“No, unfortunately this happens at like every event,” Gane told New York Post Sports. “This is not something special. So, unfortunately, I landed my middle kick and when you land your middle kick, you land also the hands and he came in front of me and the first thing coming to me was his face. So I tried to push his face, my fingers just swiped down his eye. This is MMA.”

“I said just after the fight, we are not in the eyes of Tom Aspinall so we can’t judge. Maybe he can’t see like he said so no, I’m not judging.”

Quotes via Bloody Elbow

What do you make of Ciryl Gane’s reaction to the eye poke saga? Does he deserve to be fighting for an interim heavyweight title against Alex Pereira? Let us know your thoughts on this in the comments below, BJPENN Nation!