Tom Aspinall reacts to Ciryl Gane’s UFC rematch claim with fresh medical update

Tom Aspinall is due to have surgery in the coming weeks after sustaining an eye injury in October, with the UFC heavyweight champion hitting out at the man who caused the injury.

At UFC 321, Aspinall’s first defence of the undisputed belt ended as a no-contest in round one, after the Briton suffered multiple eye pokes from Ciryl Gane.

In November, Aspinall was diagnosed with “significant bilateral Brown’s syndrome”, a rare condition where the eye cannot move upwards – particularly when looking inward. Amid that update, Aspinall also said he was still suffering from “persistent double vision” and reduced eye motility, visual function and substantial field loss.

As such, he has not been cleared to fight or even train, with a much-desired rematch with Gane up in the air.

On that note, Gane wrote on Instagram on Tuesday: “Still no date or opponent yet… but we keep grinding and training hard before the holidays.”

Aspinall, 32, was quick to reply, hitting back: “No s*** there’s not a date yet, I’m not medically cleared to fight and [am] about to have surgery thanks to your disgusting fingernails.

“I’ll be back to smash your face in soon you cheat.”

Aspinall previously hinted that surgery might be required to address his eye issues, and his latest comments confirm that he will go ahead with such treatment. The Independent understands the surgery is due in the next few weeks.

Aspinall has been the victim of significant bad luck over the last few years, with his eye troubles coming three years after he sustained a knee injury that kept him out of the Octagon for 12 months.

In the time between returning from the first injury and suffering the second, Aspinall resumed his impressive form and won the interim heavyweight title, even defending it in 2024, but he was kept waiting over a unification bout with Jon Jones for the best part of two years.

Jones opted to retire from mixed martial arts this summer, and Aspinall was elevated to regular champion, setting up the Briton’s bout with France’s Gane in October.

That highly-anticipated bout played out in Abu Dhabi, where 35-year-old Gane poked Aspinall in the eye multiple times, with a double eye poke ending the action. Aspinall was immediately transported to hospital.

At the post-event press conference, Dana White insinuated that Aspinall “didn’t want” to keep fighting, leading the Briton to express disappointment in the UFC president’s comments.

White has since clarified: “I’m no doctor, I’m just saying what I’ve heard. I wasn’t saying anything negative towards him. I think the thing’s going to be taken out of context, or he didn’t see what I said, because I don’t even know what the f*** I said. But never once did I say anything negative about him or in a derogatory way.”