UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall said he will undergo surgery on both of his eyes as a result of injuries suffered during a bout against Ciryl Gane Oct. 25 that ended in a no-contest.
Aspinall, who suffered the injuries from what was ruled an accidental eye poke, said he likely would have undergone the first surgery by the time he released the information on his YouTube page Sunday. He also said the second surgery is scheduled for mid-January.
“So we’re working on getting back, and that’s a plan,’’ he said.
Aspinall, 32, provided no other information about the surgeries or the extent of the injuries.
He and Gane are expected to meet in a rematch when Aspinall says his eye trouble has been fixed.
After the fight with Gane ended in a no contest, UFC CEO Dana White said “Tom didn’t want to continue in the fight’’ later said “there was no damage to the eye.’’
Aspinall took exception to White’s comments and, during an appearance on ‘The Ariel Helwani Show,’ said, ‘I was very disappointed, yeah. Very disappointed … It didn’t help the cause.’’ He also said he stopped fighting because the eye poke was a foul and it affected his vision.
White later clarified he wasn’t trying to say anything negative about Aspinall but added, “We have people all over him right now, checking up on him, making sure he’s good, does he need any help or any specialists. I’m no doctor. I’m just saying what I’ve heard. It wasn’t said in a way [to be negative], ‘I said I think he’s fine.’ It wasn’t like that. I said I think Tom’s eyes are good, he’s going to take some time, heal and come back. That’s all I said.’’
Aspinall, who’s from Great Britain, won the UFC interim title in November 2023 and, with a victory over Sergei Pavlovich by knockout, defended the interim title in July 2024 against Curtis Blaydes by knockout.
In June, Jon Jones retired, removing the interim tag from Aspinall’s status as the reigning UFC heavyweight champion.
In his next fight, Aspinall (15-3, 12 KOs) took on Gane. But the bout ended with 25 seconds left in the first round when Aspinall was unable to continue after the eye poke.