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The Briton said he found White’s comments on his condition ‘very disappointing’
Flo CliffordWednesday 03 December 2025 09:45 GMTComments
CloseThe Independent reacts to Tom Aspinall’s eye-poke nightmare at UFC 321
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Tom Aspinall said UFC president Dana White has not spoken to him since a horrifying injury he sustained in his heavyweight title defence at UFC 321.
The Briton’s opponent Ciryl Gane accidentally poked him in both eyes towards the end of the first round of their bout in Abu Dhabi on 25 October.
Aspinall, who was defending his status as undisputed champion for the first time, could not continue and the fight was deemed a no-contest.
This week he revealed that he has been diagnosed with a rare condition in both eyes which may require surgery and has not yet been cleared to return to training.
Aspinall said that despite the serious consequences the fight had on his health, he has not heard from UFC president White.
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White claimed after the fight the Briton had “no damage” to his eye and insinuated the bout had to be stopped because “Tom didn’t want to continue”, rather than because he physically couldn’t.
“I was very disappointed, very disappointed,” Aspinall told The Ariel Helwani Show on Tuesday, referring to White’s post-fight comments. “It didn’t help the cause.
“[Dana White] hadn’t spoken to me, and he was already giving updates on my health. He had no idea what had gone on. It was disappointing, mate.
“I don’t really have a relationship with Dana. I don’t know what to say, that’s the way it is.
“[White] started giving updates that there was nothing wrong with my eye, when that isn’t the case. I’ve done a lot for the UFC, so, yeah, disappointing.”
Aspinall posted a medical report to his Instagram account showing he has “significant bilateral Brown’s syndrome”, a rare condition where the eye cannot move upwards, particularly when looking inward.
He is also still suffering from “persistent double vision” and has reduced eye motility, visual function and substantial field loss, and may require surgery, which could prevent him from fighting in 2026.
He is undergoing specialist treatment and shared more detail on Tuesday, saying: “They don’t really know when I'm going to be back at the moment. I’m still not even cleared to train or do anything. They’re talking about doing surgery on both eyes, they’re talking about injections - I have to get an injection in the eyeball soon.
“So I'm not looking forward to that. I don't really know [when I'll be back] at this point.”
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Dana WhiteTom AspinallCiryl GaneAbu DhabiJoin our commenting forum
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