UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall has confirmed he will undergo major surgery on the eye injury that ended his title defence against Ciryl Gane — describing the long recovery process as a “nightmare.”
The 32-year-old Brit was making his first defence of the belt at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi when disaster struck in the opening round.
Within minutes of the fight starting, Gane’s fingers appeared to jab into both of Aspinall’s eyes. After a lengthy pause, the doctor ruled him unfit to continue, and the bout was declared a no-contest.
In the weeks that followed, Aspinall revealed the full extent of the damage. Doctors diagnosed him with significant traumatic bilateral Brown’s syndrome — a rare and serious condition affecting eye movement — along with persistent double vision.
He says he has already undergone one procedure and will need another to repair his right eye.
Speaking on fellow UFC fighter Paddy Pimblett’s YouTube channel, Aspinall explained: “It’s been a bit of a long process because with other injuries they fix them straight away. But with eyes, because it’s obviously risky, they try and let them heal naturally. So we’re getting surgery.
“It will keep me out for a little bit. I’m not sure how long. We’ve got a meeting about it soon. It’s been a slow process – a nightmare, to be honest.”
“Three Times In One Round”
Referee Jason Herzog ruled the incident accidental, but Aspinall insists Gane caught him in the eye multiple times during the four-and-a-half-minute fight. “Three times he did it in one round,” Aspinall said. “The points deduction should be sacked off. First one is an accident; second one is on purpose.”
The sequence of eye pokes was visible on replays, and while Herzog stopped the fight to allow medical assessment, the champion ultimately couldn’t see well enough to continue.
Aspinall later said he had no choice but to stop, saying: “I didn’t continue, and I’ll tell you why I didn’t continue — because I’m not a f***ing dummy. I’m not going to go out there and fight one of the best strikers in the world if I can’t see.”
Aspinall, who won the interim title by knocking out Sergei Pavlovich in 2023, has only fought twice since that night. What was meant to be a career-defining title defence instead became one of the most controversial moments of the year, leaving fans divided over whether the poke was accidental or deliberate, and whether Aspinall could – or should – have gone through til the end.
When the two heavyweights first clashed in Abu Dhabi, Aspinall later recalled that Gane’s fingers “went knuckle-deep” into both eyes.
He said in a previous video that the Frenchman “was trying to poke my eyes out, all the way through that round,” adding: “Nearly every exchange that I could put him in danger, he had his fingers out pointing toward my eyes. The guy was cheating from the first second.”
The diagnosis of Brown’s syndrome — an injury that restricts the eye’s ability to move upward — has forced Aspinall to slow down his training entirely. After months of waiting for natural healing, doctors advised surgery. “By the time this is coming out, I’ve probably had surgery on one side already,” he said in December. “Next surgery is coming mid-January. We’re working towards getting back, and that’s the plan.”
Eye surgery is notoriously delicate, and UFC medical teams are reportedly closely monitoring Aspinall’s recovery before clearing him to compete again.
While there’s no official timeframe for his return, the champion has made it clear that he intends to fight again once fully healed. “That’s the plan,” he said. “We’re working towards getting back.”
The Road Back To The Octagon
Aspinall’s absence has reignited tension with Gane, who continues to train and tease a possible rematch. When the Frenchman posted training footage in December, Aspinall fired back online, accusing him of “disgusting fingernails” and vowing to “smash your face in soon, you cheat.”
Despite the frustration, the British heavyweight has remained realistic about recovery. “I’ve got to be 100% right,” he said. “So whenever the eye’s good to go, that’s when I’ll do it.”
“I’m obviously very keen to get back and beat this guy up,” he said. “But I’ve got to be right. I’m not fighting again until I can see perfectly.”
For now, the heavyweight division waits as one of its brightest stars heals from one of the strangest — and most painful — endings in UFC title history.
Featured image credit: X/UFC/TNT Sports/YouTube/TomAspinall (Screenshot)
