Tom Aspinall is still unable to see out of one eye, four days after the UFC champion was poked in both eyes by Ciryl Gane.
Aspinall was defending the undisputed UFC heavyweight title for the first time, at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi, when Gane committed an accidental foul – poking Aspinall in both eyes at the same time.
The British champion was unable to continue, and the bout was ruled a No Contest in the very first round. Aspinall, 32, was quickly taken to hospital, while UFC president Dana White said a rematch would be booked as soon as possible.
Aspinall underwent tests in Abu Dhabi and more upon returning to the UK, and The Independent understands that – as of Wednesday morning – Aspinall has extremely limited vision in his right eye and 50 per cent in his left. Gane’s finger went knuckle-deep into Aspinall’s left eye, yet the right has caused the Wigan heavyweight more trouble.
“It’s bad,” said Andy Aspinall – Tom’s father and head coach – on the fighter’s YouTube channel on Tuesday. “He could have lost his sight.
“His eye is a little bit more closed than it was. His right eye, he still can’t see anything. He says it’s just grey. They tested him on words, and he just couldn’t see anything.
“His left eye, 50 per cent. He went down about four letters, then he couldn’t see the letters. So, one’s really, really blurry, and one’s still not working.
“He’s still not got his sight in one eye, so we don’t know. We’re still waiting. Time is a healer, hopefully.”
Aspinall’s woes at UFC 321 elongated a difficult episode for the Briton, who had not competed in 15 months before UFC 321.
After retaining the interim heavyweight title in July 2024, Aspinall was kept waiting by then-regular champion Jon Jones, who eventually elected to retire this summer instead of face Aspinall.
Previously, from 2022 until 2023, Aspinall was out of the Octagon for 12 months after sustaining a serious knee injury just 17 seconds into a fight.
However, between sustaining that injury and suffering the eye poke at UFC 321, Aspinall went 3-0, knocking out Marcin Tybura, Sergei Pavlovich and Curtis Blaydes – all in the first round.
France’s Gane was challenging for the undisputed heavyweight title for the third time on Saturday, having previously lost title fights with Francis Ngannou and Jones. However, the 35-year-old is a former interim champion.
