Tom Aspinall’s doctors have spoken out following a freak double eye poke that ended his UFC 321 heavyweight title defence against Ciryl Gane — and provided an update on when we can expect the Brit to compete again.
The bout in Abu Dhabi was supposed to be Aspinall’s first defence of the UFC heavyweight belt, but it ended in chaos after just four minutes and 35 seconds of the opening round when Gane’s fingers raked into both of the Brit’s eyes. Aspinall told referee Jason Herzog that he “couldn’t see,” and the fight was waved off, officially ruled a no-contest.
The 31-year-old was rushed to a nearby hospital where he underwent initial scans and assessments.
Footage from his YouTube vlog — which has since racked up more than 700,000 views — showed Aspinall receiving eye drops, having his eye bandaged, and being tested by a local specialist.
The doctor, speaking in the video, was clear that while the injury was not immediately serious, further checks were needed.
“You should stop the fight until you are good again and until you are cleared from our side,” the doctor told Aspinall. “Not after this visit, after the second. After making sure everything is coming back to normal with the vision. But we didn’t find anything dangerous.”
He added that if Aspinall were to remain in Abu Dhabi, he would want to see him again for additional assessments on Monday — otherwise, he would need to see someone in the UK within two days.
When asked if stopping the fight had been the right decision, the doctor did not hesitate. “Yeah of course, you should stop the fight until you are good again and cleared from our side,” he replied.
For Aspinall, who has previously endured serious injuries inside the Octagon, the uncertainty this time feels different.
“It’s a dangerous sport,” he said in the video. “It’s way scarier than what I did to my knee. Because with your knee, you know it’s going to be alright, but you don’t know how it’s going to be with your eye… Waiting for further results. We’ve got to do some more tests in the UK as well. So, we’re flying back today, and we’ll go from there.”
It’s not the first time Aspinall has had a major fight end abruptly. In 2022, just 15 seconds into his clash with Curtis Blaydes, he tore his medial collateral ligament (MCL) and meniscus, while also damaging his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). That setback cost him a full year of recovery — but this, he admitted, feels even more frightening.
“It was way scarier than what I did to my knee,” he said again later in his vlog. “Because with my knee, I knew it was going to be alright. I still don’t know how this is going to be. We’re just waiting for further results. We’ve got to do more tests in the UK. Flying back today, and we’ll go from there. I’m not sure when I’ll be ready to let everyone know what’s going on. Thank you for all the support. See you soon.”
UFC president Dana White, meanwhile, wasted no time confirming what’s next. Speaking in his post-fight press conference, White said the promotion plans to book an immediate rematch once Aspinall is medically cleared.
“I feel the way everybody feels — great showing, s*** ending,” White told reporters. “After the [Jon] Jones fight, a lot of people wrote Ciryl Gane off, [but] he looked damn good tonight. It looked like we were in for a few rounds, and it was going to be a good fight… Yeah, total pain in the a**, but yes [we will book a rematch].”
White went further, suggesting the second meeting could even draw more interest than the original matchup.
“It’s unfortunate that it ended the way that it did, and yes, I think that there will probably be a lot more interest in the rematch after they saw [this fight],” he said. “[Gane] had Tom bloodied up, and Tom didn’t want to continue in the fight, so a rematch is very interesting.”
Pressed again later, White reiterated: “Total pain in the a** but yeah. It’s unfortunate it ended the way that it did and yes, I think that there probably will be a lot more interest in the rematch after [Gane] had Tom bloodied up and Tom didn’t want to continue in the fight. So the rematch is very interesting. Right here, right now, being honest – I never do this when it comes to talking about what next fight is going to happen – the rematch is what makes sense.”
For now, though, Aspinall’s priority isn’t a date with Gane — it’s his health.
As the Salford-born champion flies home to undergo further scans, fans are left to wait and hope for good news. The good part: “we didn’t find anything dangerous.” The bad: no one yet knows when the British heavyweight king will be ready to step back into the Octagon.
Featured image credit: YouTube/TomAspinall (Screenshot)
