Tom Aspinall says he is back training and hoping to fight again this year, more than eight months after his bout with Ciryl Gane ended in a no-contest and sent him to hospital for eye checks. The heavyweight champion said he still has “a way to go” before he can return, but believes the next step is medical clearance.
That fight, last October, stopped in the first round after Gane accidentally poked Aspinall in both eyes. Aspinall told the doctor, “I can’t see,” and the contest was ruled a no-contest after he could not continue. He was later diagnosed with significant traumatic bilateral Brown’s syndrome, a condition that caused persistent double vision and required surgery.
For the UFC heavyweight division, the timeline matters because Aspinall has not fought since then. The title picture has been waiting on his recovery, and he made clear that the delay is not simply a matter of wanting another booking. “As soon as the doctor gives me the green light, I’ll be good to go,” he said. “I’m back training but I’ve still got a way to go yet.”
The dispute that followed the bout still hangs over the stoppage. Dana White wondered afterward whether Aspinall could have continued, but Aspinall strongly rejected that suggestion and said he had not received an apology for the comments. “I don’t have a relationship with Dana,” he said. “I’ve never really communicated with him. Dana doesn’t speak to fighters that much.”
Aspinall’s own account of the stoppage leaves little room for doubt about how serious it was. He said he was taken to hospital after the fight, and the surgery that followed was meant to deal with the double vision that lingered after the injury. That is why the most important date now is not another fight announcement but the day his doctor clears him to compete.
He has been there before. Aspinall said he had been competing in combat sports since he was a teenager and by 16 had already done boxing, kickboxing, wrestling and almost every martial art he could. He also said his father had been in the sport for years and was one of the first Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts in the UK, which made his move into professional MMA feel natural. “I always knew I wanted to go to the UFC,” he said. “If you want to be the best fighter in the world, you have to fight in the UFC.”
For now, though, the road back runs through a doctor’s office, not an octagon. Aspinall says he wants to fight this year, but after an injury that changed one title fight and froze the division, the only return date that matters is the one written in medical clearance.
