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UFC Champion Tom Aspinall Shares Gruesome Health Update After Eye Surgery

Originally posted on MMA on SI | By Drew Beaupre | Last updated Feb 11, 2026 8:04 AM ET

Combat sports fans are hopeful that UFC Heavyweight Tom Aspinall is finally on the road to recovery after undergoing surgery on his eyes.

Unbeaten in the UFC outside of a 15-second injury TKO that came in his first meeting with Curtis Blaydes at UFC London in 2022, Aspinall was promoted from interim to undisputed heavyweight champion when Jon Jones retired from fighting over the summer.

The 32-year-old’s undisputed title reign unfortunately got off to an inauspicious start at UFC 321, as his headlining title defense against Ciryl Gane was called off late in the opening round after Aspinall was poked in the eye and unable to continue fighting.

Tom Aspinall Shares Update After Eye Surgeries

Aspinall painted a significantly darker picture regarding his health after UFC CEO Dana White initially claimed it wouldn’t be long before the Gane rematch was booked, and now the UFC heavyweight champion has officially undergone surgery on both of his eyes.

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“After his highly publicised eye poke injury, Optegra's expert team is proud to have supported MMA fighter and UFC Heavyweight Champion [Tom Aspinall]. Over recent months we’ve been working closely with him on his recovery. Following his operation on both eyes we continue the journey to get Tom’s vision back to fighting fitness.”

Following up on the initial post from Optega Eye Health Care, Aspinall also shared an Instagram story showing what his eyes looked like one day removed from the procedure.

When Will Tom Aspinall Return To The UFC?

Aspinall understandably deserves a bit of time to rest and recover following surgery, but it won’t be long until combat sports fans start clamoring for an update on when the UFC star thinks he may return to the cage.

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Given the anticlimactic way the first fight ended, the expectation is that former interim titleholder Gane will get an immediate rematch with Aspinall once the latter fighter is finally ready to compete again.

“Bon Gamin” previously came up short in two undisputed heavyweight title bids against Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones, and he rebounded from the Jones fight with victories over Serghei Spivac and Alexander Volkov.

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It didn’t take long after Jones retired and vacated the heavyweight belt for the future UFC Hall of Famer to start teasing a return to the Octagon, but the 38-year-old’s latest comments indicate that he may be having second thoughts about trying to come back for the UFC’s planned event at The White House this summer.

This article first appeared on MMA on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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