Volkanovski Backs Aspinall Following Eye Surgery

“I think everyone’s being pretty harsh on him. Eye stuff can mess with you quite a bit. A lot of people expect your eye to be falling out. Simple retina tears and stuff can be a big problem. My first fight with Diego Lopes, I had a few things going on. To be quite honest, I still have things playing up in my eye because of it. I’m lucky enough that it’s not too serious, but I’ve still got things that happen in my eye because of it.

“The knuckle went in the eye, not much in it. This stuff can mess with you. I still see flashes on the sides of my eyes. I’m giving you too much information here, but I’m still seeing flashes all the time. A lot of people are just like, ‘Ah, it’s not falling out, you can see again, it’s fine.’ That’s not the case. You could have issues, and you could be one hit away from losing vision,” Volkanovski said

The Future

While Aspinall remains the UFC Heavyweight Champion, his absence has placed the division in a state of “limbo.” Several factors are shaping his immediate professional future:

Rematch with Ciryl Gane: The UFC’s primary plan remains a rematch between Aspinall and Gane once the champion is medically cleared. However, there is no definitive timeline for when this will happen.

Interim Title Speculation: Due to the extended recovery time, there is increasing discussion about the UFC introducing an interim heavyweight title. Names like Alex Pereira (who recently vacated his light heavyweight belt to move up) and Ciryl Gane have been linked to potential championship bouts to keep the division active.