Tom Aspinall fires back at Dana White. UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall has responded after UFC CEO Dana White appeared to downplay the seriousness of his eye injury, with Aspinall insisting the situation is far more severe than many people realise.
Aspinall has been sidelined since his first heavyweight title defense against Ciryl Gane ended in a no contest following a pair of accidental eye pokes at UFC 321. The injury reportedly caused major vision problems and required multiple medical procedures. Aspinall mentioned that the situation is far more severe than many people realise. Following the fight, Dana White publicly suggested that the injury was not career-threatening and indicated that Aspinall would recover relatively quickly.
UFC CEO Dana White initially seemed to downplay the severity of Aspinall’s injuries, later clarifying he didn’t intend to “say anything negative” about Aspinall. But Aspinall has now clarified that the recovery process has been far more difficult than expected. According to the heavyweight champion, recent scans showed that his eye still has not healed enough for him to safely return to sparring or fighting, forcing doctors to delay his comeback timeline yet again.
Aspinall explained that while progress has been made, he is still following medical advice carefully and refuses to rush back before his vision fully recovers. “He’s not said it in so many words, but he’s like alluded to it,” Aspinall said of White’s criticism during an interview with Fight Your Corner
“I would love for that to be the case. “It’s been a shit time. It’s like you said, if you’re not fighting, you’re not earning. So, like, I’m not sitting here for fun. I’d love to be fighting. I’d love to be on these big cards and these big nights. I didn’t work since I was 10 years old to sit on the sidelines.”
Although Aspinall and Dana White seem to be on better terms now, a recent business decision added another layer to the situation. Aspinall recently signed with Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, who has had a long-running playful rivalry with White, especially surrounding White’s plans for Zuffa Boxing. This latest move quickly sparked fresh talk about a possible clash between the two promoters, though White later brushed those rumours aside. Aspinall admitted he was initially worried about getting caught in the middle of the Hearn-White rivalry, but said his relationship with Hearn has been positive so far.
“A little bit, but once I figured out the finer details of the relationship that me and Matchroom have, I was obviously happy, I signed a long-term contract,” Aspinall said. “So I’m happy with it. I’ve got a lot of people like Tony and other people I know personally who worked with Matchroom. No one who I know personally has a bad word to say about them, stuff like that goes a long way with me.
“Also, when I met Eddie and Frank [Smith] and the rest of the team, sometimes you sit down with someone and you think it might go well and you just don’t click in person or whatever, but when we all met it just seemed to work right away, so we did it.” Regardless of what White or anyone else has to say, the question still remains: When is Aspinall going to fight again?
“At the minute, I’ve just had my recent scan,” Aspinall said. “I thought it was going to get cleared actually to spar and fight straight away, but they actually said they’re giving me another couple of months, so I’m just waiting because the cells in your eye take a little bit longer to heal, so as soon as they’re healed, we should be good to go.”
Tom Aspinall’s latest comments make it clear that this is far more than a routine eye poke injury. While Dana White attempted to calm concerns surrounding the heavyweight division, Aspinall’s update paints a very different picture, one involving surgeries, delayed recovery, and uncertainty about when one of the UFC’s top heavyweights will fight again. For now, the belt may still belong to Aspinall, but the road back to full health appears far from over.
