UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall faces an anxious wait for medical results after suffering a painful eye injury that forced an abrupt end to his title defence against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi.
The highly anticipated bout was stopped late in the first round after Gane accidentally poked Aspinall in both eyes while throwing a punch. Unable to continue, Aspinall told referee Jason Herzog, “I can’t see,” prompting the fight to be ruled a no contest — allowing the Briton to retain his championship belt.
The 32-year-old was immediately taken to hospital and missed the post-fight press conference. He has since returned to England, where he will undergo further medical tests to assess potential long-term damage.
“It’s a dangerous sport,” Aspinall said later in a YouTube video. “It’s way scarier than my knee injury. With your knee, you know it’ll heal — but with your eye, you just don’t know.”
Aspinall knows the long road to recovery all too well — he spent a year sidelined in 2022 after tearing multiple ligaments in his knee during a previous fight.
UFC president Dana White confirmed the champion was unable to continue and hinted that a rematch with Gane is likely, calling it a “bigger fight now” given how competitive the brief contest had been.
For now, Aspinall’s focus is on recovery and clarity over his vision — a cruel twist in what was meant to be the defining moment of his heavyweight reign.
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