UFC heavyweight titleholder Tom Aspinall continues to deal with significant vision problems following the accidental eye pokes he suffered against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi.
His father and longtime coach Andy Aspinall gave a detailed medical update on Tom’s YouTube channel, saying the damage remains serious days later.
“The specialist said it’s bad,” Andy explained. “It’s not good, but his eye is a little more closed than before. His right eye he still can’t see anything. It’s just gray. They’ve tested him on words and he just couldn’t see anything. His left eye, 50 percent, he went down about four letters and then just couldn’t see the letters. So one’s really, really blurry and one’s still not working.”
The incident occurred near the end of the opening round, and despite using the five-minute recovery period, Tom told the referee he couldn’t continue. The bout was ruled a no contest, with UFC CEO Dana White confirming afterward that the promotion intends to book a rematch when Aspinall is cleared.
“He’s Not in a Happy Place”
Beyond the physical damage, Andy said the emotional fallout has been equally difficult for the champion.
“He’s just in a foul mood,” Andy admitted. “He’s not in a happy place. He’s not making his home life that happy because he’s mad and upset that we’ve spent — he’s had like three or four years now with taking Fight of the Night, taking the fight on short notice, being the back-up fighter, sitting around waiting for Jon Jones, and we get a fight, and it’s been 15 months when he got three minutes of fighting time in however long it’s been.”
Aspinall (8-1 UFC) had been preparing for his first undisputed title defense before the fight ended abruptly, leaving him frustrated after a long stretch of inactivity.
Defending His Son Against Criticism
Some fighters and fans accused Aspinall of quitting too soon. Andy dismissed the narrative completely, insisting no one should fight blind.
“If he can’t see in a fight, it’s too dangerous to fight and you see the socials,” Andy said. “I don’t give a sh*t what people say. It doesn’t bother me. They’ve got opinions, and they think they’re right, or they’ve got opinions, and they want some attention, or they’ve got opinions, and they want to make a video to make some money. Let them do that. I’m not bothered by any of that. I’m just bothered that my kid has a job he likes, and he wants to do it, and he’s been fouled in a contest and the guy that fouled him has no consequence to him, and now there’s a consequence for Tom — and hopefully it will be all right. But it might not be.”
Andy added that they’re not blaming Ciryl Gane personally, but the system that allows fouls with no real repercussions.
“For Me, It’s About His Health”
Health and safety, Andy said, come before everything.
“For me, everything’s about his health,” he continued. “It’s not about fighting, that’s just what he chose to do as a job and one of the consequences you can get hurt. But it’s a bad consequence if you lose your sight, especially by a foul. And I’m not getting at Ciryl Gane in any way, this happens a lot in MMA. If you commit a foul with an eye poke, the referee just says, ‘Don’t do it.’”
He argued that the rules need to change so that fighters aren’t punished for being fouled in ways that end a contest.
“Nobody’s ever lost a fight because of an eye poke and I’m not saying somebody should win or lose, but the safety of the thing is paramount and I’m fed up with saying if it was somebody else’s son, they would say what I say. If your son’s fighting, you want him to be as safe as you can and he got poked in the eye and it’s bad and he could have lost his sight. Still not got his sight in one eye, so we don’t know, we’re still waiting. Time is a healer, hopefully.”
Calling for Change in the Sport
Andy said the entire incident shows that MMA’s foul policies are outdated and don’t match the seriousness of the injuries that can occur.
“From our side, it was horrendous because our main guy who we all work with and around and are with every day couldn’t see and you saw the mood he was in,” he said. “So upset and so grieved, and Ciryl I’m sure the same, but he fouled. There’s a consequence or should be a consequence to fouling and he’s not got a consequence. I’m not saying he should have.
“The UFC have got some rules. What will it take to change those rules? Will it take somebody’s eye being poked and falling on the floor? I don’t think that’s a thing, I’m sure it’s not, but what does it take? Is it the money? That people won’t watch the fights because they’re not as exciting because the gloves are not as good. I don’t know the answer. The old PRIDE gloves were different. But something, from my point of view, needs to be done in the sport to stop happening what happened on Saturday night in Tom’s fight.”
The champion is still under medical supervision as doctors monitor his vision. His return depends entirely on how well his eye heals.
“Still not got his sight in one eye, so we don’t know,” Andy said again. “Time is a healer, hopefully.”
For now, the Aspinall family remains focused on recovery — and on ensuring what happened at UFC 321 becomes a turning point for fighter safety across the sport.
