Home · Sports · Sep 14 archive
UFC Heavyweight Champion Tom Aspinall Vacates Title Due to Eye Injury
Confirmed
In Short: UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall has vacated his title due to ongoing complications from an eye injury sustained during his bout with Ciryl Gane, according to Al Jazeera.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight champion, Tom Aspinall, has vacated his title due to ongoing complications from an eye injury sustained during his bout with Ciryl Gane last year, according to Al Jazeera. Aspinall, who had previously agreed to a fight date and was back sparring, suffered further damage to his right eye, leading him to decide to relinquish the belt rather than delay the division while he recovers.
The contest was ruled a first-round no-contest after Aspinall was unable to continue, and his departure clears the way for Ciryl Gane, who captured the interim heavyweight title with a victory over Alex Pereira in June, to be elevated to undisputed champion. Despite vacating the belt, Aspinall stressed that he was not retiring and remains determined to compete again.
Aspinall, the only Briton to win a UFC heavyweight title, has a professional MMA record of 15 wins, three defeats, and one no-contest. He has undergone multiple surgeries since receiving severe eye pokes in his title defence against Gane in Abu Dhabi in October last year, and has not fought since then. He has a rare eye condition and has had persistent double vision.
UFC president Dana White hinted over the weekend that Aspinall could be stripped of the title, and Aspinall himself has stated that he will continue doing everything he can to get healthy, get cleared, and get back to competing as soon as possible. Valentina Shevchenko vacated the women's flyweight title this month due to persistent injuries.
What's confirmed
- “Stepping away from the title is not stepping away from the sport or the dream,” he wrote on Instagram.
What's still developing
- In June Aspinall said he had returned to full training for a rematch with France's Gane and suggested they could fight in September.
- In August Aspinall rejected reports that he would leave the UFC.