Tom Aspinall gives eye surgery update as UFC heavyweight champion puts plans to 'beat the living daylights' out of Ciryl Gane on hold
Published 30/12/2025 at 10:45 GMT
Tom Aspinall confirmed he has undergone eye surgery and will require another in mid-January in the aftermath of the no-contest fight against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 in October. Gane accidentally poked both of Aspinall's eyes in the first round of the fight, with Aspinall unable to continue. The UFC heavyweight champion said he is still suffering with double vision.
Watch moment Gane double eye poke on Aspinall leads to no contest
Video credit: TNT Sports
UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall said he has needed to have eye surgery following injuries sustained in his no-contest fight with Ciryl Gane at UFC 321.
Aspinall was taking on Gane in Abu Dhabi on October 25 in his first title defence, when Gane accidentally poked Aspinall in both eyes towards the end of the first round, with the Englishman complaining his opponent had gone "knuckle deep" into his eye.
He took to Instagram to give an update on his condition at the start of December, showing a medical report which diagnosed "significant traumatic bilateral Brown’s syndrome" and "persistent" double vision.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Aspinall said he has now undergone surgery, with another to come in "mid-January".
Meanwhile, Aspinall told Adam Catterall on the One on One | MMA YouTube channel that he was still suffering with double vision.
"I’m at the point where I don’t want to keep banging on about it, but I’m also aware we do have to talk about it," Aspinall said. "Just not being able to see properly."
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‘Why are you booing?’ – Aspinall and Gane react after main event ended by eye poke
Video credit: TNT Sports
Drawn on his plans to return to the Octagon, Aspinall said: "I’m just thinking about my health at the minute, I’m not thinking about any of that stuff because you’ve got to take it one step at a time.
"The plan is to go back and beat the living daylights out of Ciryl Gane, but right now the short-term plan is to get back to where I should be, get back in the gym."
Gane avoided disqualification for the eye poke after it was adjudged by referee Jason Herzog to have been accidental, while the post-match fallout led to tension between Aspinall and UFC CEO Dana White, with the heavyweight champion saying he was "disappointed" by White's comments, in which it was claimed there was "no damage" to the fighter's eye.
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White later clarified, per The Independent: "I’m no doctor, I’m just saying what I’ve heard. I wasn’t saying anything negative towards him. I think the thing’s going to be taken out of context, or he didn’t see what I said, because I don’t even know what the f*** I said. But never once did I say anything negative about him or in a derogatory way."
The no-contest fight against Gane was Aspinall's first since assuming the heavyweight strap following Jon Jones' retirement.
Aspinall had long been calling for a bout with 38-year-old Jones to win the belt outright, but the fight did not materialise, and the British fighter has since pledged to keep the title "as active as possible".
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