Former UFC champions Dominick Cruz and TJ Dillashaw say they do not believe Ciryl Gane is a cheater after fans questioned eye pokes and illegal blows.
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Ciryl Gane has drawn a “cheater” label from some fans over alleged fouls, but two former UFC champions say the criticism is overstated.
Dominick Cruz, speaking on the “Love & War Podcast,” argued that accidentally poking an opponent during a fight is not evidence of deliberate wrongdoing. Cruz said: “I always said if you can poke me in my f*cking eye, I’m doing something wrong,” adding, “You can punch me in my head. Trying to my head is so f*cking hard, if you can poke me in the eye, that’s my problem, so we agree on that and I think that’s why he’s not a cheater.”
TJ Dillashaw agreed with Cruz’s assessment. Dillashaw said, “I don’t think he is [a cheater],” arguing that the view of Gane has been “blown out of the water” since the Pereira fight. He added that he believes Gane “wasn’t going for it on purpose,” pointing to how Alex Pereira was moving his head as the exchanges occurred, and Dillashaw also referenced officiating scrutiny, saying: “I think Herb Dean’s unfortunately catching a lot of flack as well, too.”
Some of the fan criticism has focused on a double eye poke foul involving Gane against Tom Aspinall, with Aspinall still sidelined due to injuries that began after the bout. Others have questioned illegal elbows that landed to the back of Alex Pereira’s head during Gane’s fight with Pereira at UFC Freedom 250 in June.
Gane was promoted as the UFC heavyweight champion with Aspinall remaining sidelined. He will put his title on the line against Josh Hokit in the UFC 334 main event on Nov. 14 in New York City.
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