Aspinall Confirms Eye Surgery, Warns Gane

UFC Heavyweight Champion Tom Aspinall has officially announced that he is heading into surgery to address his vision problems suffered during his no-contest against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 in October.

The injury happened after an accidental double eye poke from Gane forced an early end to the contest after only one round. Medical experts have since diagnosed Aspinall with bilateral Brown’s syndrome, a rare and serious complication that impairs coordinated eye movement. Tom has had to deal with a wave of scrutiny following the “No Contest” ruling. Jon Jones used the incident to mock Aspinall, implying that the British fighter looked for a way out of the match. Aspinall hasn’t stayed silent during his time away, recently lashing out at Gane on social media by labeling him a “cheat” for the fouls that led to the injury.

“When it happened initially, I didn’t really think much of it. I thought it was an accidental eye poke. When I watch the fight back, that’s when I really got the gist of what’s going on. The guy was trying to f**king poke my eyes out all the way through that round. Multiple exchanges, nearly every exchange I could have put him in danger, he had his fingers out, pointing towards my eyes. The guy was cheating from the first second. The way that he wanted to win that fight was to have me compromised by cheating,” Aspinall revealed

The Aim

Aspinall is now turning his full attention to the rehabilitation process. The surgery means he could be out of action until at least the latter half of 2026. For now, Aspinall just wants to get back to fighting.

“By the time this (video) is going out I’ll probably have surgery on one eye already. Next surgery is coming mid-January. So, we’re working towards getting back and that’s the plan,” Aspinall said

“I’m not even thinking about (retiring) because you’ve got to take one step at a time, don’t you? Obviously the plan is to go back and beat the living daylights out of Ciryl Gane, that’s the plan, but right now, the short-term plan is to get back to where I should be and get back in the gym,” Aspinall added