Tom Aspinall awaiting medical clearance after controversial fight
UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall is still awaiting medical clearance to resume training after suffering a controversial eye poke from Ciryl Gane during their title fight on October 25 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Aspinall (15-3) reported via social media that he might need surgery to treat the persistent symptoms caused by the incident. Furthermore, he called Gane “a great cheater” and expressed his belief that the foul was intentional. The heavyweight title fight was declared “no result” due to Aspinall’s inability to continue, following the 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: “Tom didn’t want to continue in the fight.”When it initially happened, I didn’t think much of it. I thought it was an accidental poke in the eye. Watching the fight again is when I really understood what was happening. The guy was trying to take my eyes out the entire round. In multiple exchanges, almost every single 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 is unclear about the recovery time. According to a medical summary shared on his social media, he still suffers 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 was forced to win an interim title fight and defend it once, while a lucrative matchup between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic in 2024 was expected. Jones was expected to face Aspinall in 2025 and kickstart the division, but Jones chose to announce his retirement.I didn’t continue and I’ll tell you why. 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 with one eye. I know, as an MMA fighter, that things are going to 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 am I going to put my health at risk 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 okay. 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 both your eyes poked 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
