Joe Rogan casts doubt on Tom Aspinall’s UFC future. Veteran UFC commentator and podcaster Joe Rogan has raised serious concerns about the fighting future of Tom Aspinall, suggesting that the British heavyweight champion may never step into the Octagon again after sustaining a severe eye injury even after scheduled surgeries.
Aspinall’s most recent fight was a much-anticipated heavyweight title defense against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 in October 2025 and it ended in a disappointing no-contest after just over four minutes when Aspinall was accidentally poked in both eyes. The eye pokes left him temporarily unable to continue and sparked a serious medical issue that has kept him sidelined ever since.
The latest update from Aspinall is that he expects to undergo multiple surgeries to address his ongoing eye issues, with a timetable for his return not yet established.
According to Rogan, who spoke on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, the injury’s severity makes Aspinall’s future in competitive fighting uncertain.
“The Tom Aspinall-Ciryl Gane thing was a f*cking disaster,” Rogan said on his podcast. “I mean, that’s a disaster. Tom Aspinall still can’t see. He’s got a f*cked-up right eyeball still. The reality is he might not ever fight again. Like, who knows? If he has surgery on his eye, and it doesn’t go well and he can’t see out of the eye, apparently he’s still f*cked up in his right eye. There’s some tendon damage or something. “Eyes are so tricky, you never know. Unless you’re a f*cking complete psychopath like Michael Bisping, who fought 11 fights in the UFC blind in one eye, which is so crazy that he did that.”
“I hope Tom gets back in because again, we don’t really know what’s going on with his eye,” Rogan said. “And for all the critics, you need to know this: The right eye, that’s the problem, but if you look at when he fought, his left eye, the finger went deeper in his left eye than it did his right eye. So if you think he’s faking it, he was knuckle-deep in that f*cking left eye. It’s horrible to see.”
Aspinall’s recovery has been slow and fraught with complications. The UFC heavyweight king reportedly still struggles with vision issues more than two months after the fight, and doctors have recommended corrective surgeries on both eyes with the next operation scheduled for mid-January 2026. The champion has not been medically cleared for training or fighting and does not yet have a firm timeline for his return to action.
Despite the ongoing setback, Aspinall has maintained optimism in recent updates, sharing that he still plans to get back in the cage once he’s fully recovered and has even expressed interest in a rematch with Gane down the line, though no date has been set. Speaking to top prospect Gable Steveson, Rogan broke down the dire state of the division and why getting Aspinall back in the cage is so important.
“The heavyweight division is so shallow right now,” Rogan said. “You’ve got Tom Aspinall, Ciryl Gane, Jon Jones if he chooses to fight again, Francis, if by some miracle they can work something out and bring him back to the UFC. Other than that, there’s no one compelling for a championship-caliber fighter.”
“The heavyweight division is, of course, the most prestigious division in the world,” Rogan added. “The heavyweight champion of the UFC is the baddest motherf*cker on the planet. Right now, it’s kind of a toss-up, right? Because Ciryl Gane had this fight with Aspinall. Jon is kind of semi-retired or whatever he decides to do, it’s kind of up in the air.”
Ultimately, Tom Aspinall’s future now rests far beyond wins, rankings, or championship belts. As Joe Rogan pointed out, eye injuries are uniquely dangerous in combat sports, where compromised vision can end careers overnight. While Aspinall remains hopeful and determined to return, the reality is that his health must come first. Whether he fights again or not, his impact on the heavyweight division is already undeniable and the MMA world will be watching closely as he faces the most important battle of his career outside the Octagon.
