Tom Aspinall has incapacitated some of the scariest heavyweights of his generation, yet his toughest fight endures. You might argue it has lasted four years now, and that it has reached the championship rounds. In dragging on that long, it has ironically cost him his own championship.
On Monday morning, Aspinall relinquished the UFC heavyweight title. The bombshell statement came 11 months after he last fought, when his first defence of the undisputed belt ended in a first-round no-contest, after Ciryl Gane plunged his finger knuckle-deep in the Briton’s eye socket. That was one of several eye pokes on that night in Abu Dhabi, and the accumulative effect left Aspinall unable to carry on, and in need of surgery. Multiple surgeries.
The last year has been a “nightmare”, as Aspinall said in a statement that conveyed both dejection and hope; “I am not done,” insisted the 33-year-old. “Stepping away from the title is not stepping away from the sport or the dream.”
But if the last year has been a nightmare, what of the “four years” mentioned above? Well, trace Aspinall’s career back to 2022, and you’ll arrive at the summer night in London where his knee was torn apart, thwarting a scintillating run towards the title. Fast-forward two years and, yes, Aspinall was interim champion by this point, but he was so frustrated by waiting for regular-title holder Jon Jones that he defended the interim strap – one of a handful of times in UFC history this has happened.
By the summer of 2025, Aspinall was still waiting on Jones, who had strung along the Wigan fighter and kept him out of the cage for a year, only to retire and vacate the official title anyway. It seemed a spiteful move by the divisive American, who does not like the Briton. And then, despite the relief that clarity should have brought Aspinall, his bad luck hit a new low when Gane put him on the shelf for 11 months and counting.
With Aspinall saying he has still not been cleared to compete, he decided to give up his belt on Monday. He might have jumped before he was pushed, for it was little more than 24 hours earlier that UFC president Dana White admitted the promotion might have to discuss stripping Aspinall.
Truly, so many factors have conspired to make Aspinall arguably the unluckiest champion in UFC history. Now a former champion.
As well as the aforementioned elements, there was Valentina Shevchenko’s recent decision to vacate her belt, with injury striking 10 months after her last defence.
That development might have informed the UFC’s thinking when it came to Aspinall, but one may also wonder about White’s ongoing rivalry with Eddie Hearn, the boxing promoter who signed Aspinall to his new talent agency this year.
White’s bitterness towards Hearn was always going to be an intriguing aspect to Aspinall’s partnership with Matchroom Talent Agency, which shared Aspinall’s statement at the same time as the fighter did. Hearn and White have feuded since the latter’s entry into the boxing landscape earlier this year, and they continue to bicker over White’s possible involvement in Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury; with an announcement of the match-up looming, Hearn says White simply cannot be involved.
Still, for any theories around White vs Hearn, Aspinall ultimately said in his update: “I asked the UFC to allow me to make this statement.
“I don’t want to hold the heavyweight division up. I know what it’s like to have your career put on hold and I want the other fighters to have the opportunity to compete for the title.”
He also said: “The UFC and Hunter [Campbell, UFC CBO] have been informed every step of the way and have seen the tests, procedures and medical information relating to my eyes. We have worked closely with different doctors and specialists to try and make my return happen but, unfortunately, it is simply not possible right now.”
Some unforgiving fans have judged Aspinall for also publicly sharing updates on his medical journey, criticising the Briton for – in their eyes – trying so hard to prove the legitimacy of his injuries. Their eyes might be more faulty than Aspinall’s; it was the mockery from the same fans that led Aspinall to feel he must prove himself in the first place.
There is, of course, a stark feeling of injustice around this episode.
“What makes this particularly difficult is that many of the complications I’m dealing with are a result of fouls that changed the course of my career,” said Aspinall on Monday, having already clarified in the past that his primary concern is being healthy enough to look after his family – whatever happens with his fighting future.
“Fighters rely on officials to enforce the rules and protect us in those moments, and it’s hard to still be dealing with the consequences today,” Aspinall concluded.
And yet Gane, who stopped Alex Pereira to win the interim belt in June, will now surely be elevated to undisputed champion: the first in France’s history. It is worth mentioning that Pereira and many fans accused Gane of illegal strikes in the moments before the stoppage, too – multiple alleged blows to the back of the Brazilian’s head.
So, if Aspinall is the unluckiest champion in UFC history, perhaps Gane will be the luckiest.
