Tom Aspinall awaiting medical clearance after controversial fight
UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall is still awaiting medical clearance to resume training. This comes after the controversial incident with Ciryl Gane during their title fight on October 25 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, where he suffered an illegal eye poke. Aspinall (15-3) announced news through his social media on Sunday, revealing the possible need for surgery to treat persistent symptoms stemming from the incident. Furthermore, he called Gane “a great cheater”, expressing his belief that the foul was intentional. The heavyweight title fight was declared a no-contest after Aspinall was unable to continue following an eye poke at the end of the first round.The English fighter also expressed his discontent with the post-fight comments of UFC CEO Dana White, who mentioned Aspinall’s nosebleed and stated that “Tom didn’t want to continue in the fight”.“Initially, I didn’t think much of it,” Aspinall commented. “I thought it was an accidental poke in the eye. Watching the replay of the fight, that’s when I really understood what was happening. The guy tried to take my eyes out the entire round. In multiple exchanges, almost in every one where he could have put me in danger, he had his fingers extended, pointing towards my eyes. The guy cheated from the first second. The way he wanted to win that fight was to have me compromised by cheating.”
Tom Aspinall
The UFC has indicated its intention to reschedule the Aspinall-Gane fight as soon as possible. Aspinall also expressed his desire to fight, but the timeframe for his recovery is still unknown. According to a medical summary shared on his social media, he continues to suffer from double and blurred vision. The outcome of the fight was catastrophic for all parties, as Aspinall’s career and the UFC heavyweight division had been on hold for much of 2025. Aspinall added:“I didn’t continue and I’ll tell you why,” Aspinall explained. “Because I’m not an idiot. I’m not going to go out and fight one of the best strikers in the world when I can’t see out of one eye. I know, as an MMA fighter, that things happen in a fight that compromise you. If it’s a legal move, you have to fight through it. That’s what we do as fighters. But if it’s illegal, why would I risk my health when I can’t see anything?”.
Tom Aspinall
“I think right now, we have to focus on the road back to normality and follow the doctors’ orders. That’s all I can control right now. We’ll cross the bridge [of my future with the UFC] when I feel better and everything is in order. If you were sidelined from doing your job for 15 months [due to the situation with Jones], unable to do anything, then you trained like crazy for six months for a fight only to have your eyes poked twice and be left without vision for almost six weeks due to an illegal move, how do you think I feel? I don’t feel fantastic, do I?”.
Tom Aspinall
