Michael Bisping knows better than most what eye injuries can take from a fighter, and he doesn’t want Tom Aspinall to learn that lesson the hard way.
The UFC Hall of Famer, who competed in many of the biggest fights of his career with vision in just one eye, has issued a clear warning to the reigning heavyweight champion as he prepares for surgery following severe eye pokes in his title fight against Ciryl Gane.
Aspinall has already begun the road to recovery, but Michael Bisping believes the most important decision now is patience.
“It was 10, 11, 12 fights, I don’t know how many, but it was definitely a lot,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “Because of that, and because I had about five or six eye surgeries, I do know a little about this.”
Bisping explained that while Aspinall’s procedure may sound routine, eye surgeries come with serious risks that fighters often underestimate.
“Tom’s going to need eye surgery. It’ll probably be something minor, like a realignment of the tendons, but these things can go wrong,” he said. “Once you start messing around with the eyes, it’s never the same again. It’s never quite as strong, and things can go wrong.”
Bisping’s own issues began after his 2013 fight with Vitor Belfort, when a detached retina in his right eye changed the course of his career. Despite returning to action just months later and going on to make 11 more UFC appearances, including winning the middleweight title, the damage never fully healed.
Now blind in that eye and wearing a prosthetic, Bisping admits he wishes he had slowed down and prioritized recovery.
“The one thing you can’t do with an eye is rush back,” Michael Bisping said. “That is the one big lesson that I learned. I rushed back too soon. I rushed back to sparring. I rushed back to competition, and I never saw out of that eye again.”
The situation is even more complex for Aspinall, who is reportedly dealing with procedures on both eyes. That reality has raised concerns about timelines, especially as fans speculate about his return and a potential rematch with Gane.
Bisping also pushed back strongly against suggestions that Aspinall is exaggerating his injury to avoid competition.
“Some people don’t know what they’re talking about,” he said. “This is the heavyweight champion of the world. He’s not a duck. He’s not trying to get out of a fight. He wants to come back and kick Ciryl Gane’s ass.”
While medical advances have improved outcomes in recent years, Bisping remains realistic about the stakes.
“They did their best for me, but ultimately I did go blind,” he said. “For Tom, fingers crossed, he’ll be OK.”
For Michael Bisping, the message is simple and urgent: championships can be reclaimed, but vision cannot. And for Tom Aspinall, taking time now could define the rest of his career, and his life, long after the cage lights go dark.
