Following the UFC 321 fiasco, Tom Aspinall found plenty of support as he dealt with damaged eyes. At the same time, though, the trolls kept circling, aiming for the heavyweight champion. The trigger? A former UFC fighter has stepped in, pointing the finger at Dana White for allegedly fueling the backlash against the 265-pound king.   

Blaming the UFC CEO for igniting the trolls, Brendan Schaub believes Dana White’s dismissal of Tom Aspinall’s condition only added spark, which gave the critics more reason to keep antagonizing the heavyweight champ. 

Brendan Schaub believes Dana White’s comment ignited the trolling against Tom Aspinall 

“Here is the problem. What makes Dana great is that he shoots from the hip, and he’s not so politically correct. He just says what he says,” Brendan Schaub said in a video posted on X, “And right after the fight, you can see how Dana can say that. But the issue with that is that it gives energy and perspective to the UFC trolls, and that just ignites the fire on top.”  

After the Abu Dhabi main event ended abruptly, Dana White addressed the situation far differently than many fans expected at the post-fight presser. Rather than focusing on the foul against Tom Aspinall, the UFC boss suggested the Brit had quit and never really wanted to fight. He even praised Ciryl Gane for what he called a clinical opening round.

For a heavyweight champion already dealing with a tough situation, those words landed hard. Also, Aspinall did not hide his frustration either. Speaking on his YouTube channel, he pushed back strongly, insisting he was not a “dummy” for refusing to fight ‘Bon Gamin’ with one eye. That exchange immediately sparked talk that tensions between the two might be resurfacing, even though White later claimed he had not said anything negative about Aspinall at the follow-up presser.

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Even after Dana White clarified the situation, the online trolls refused to back down, floating theories that Tom Aspinall had eye issues even before the fight with Ciryl Gane. As the backlash against the heavyweight champion kept gaining traction, one question remains: Would the trolling have died down if White had avoided suggesting Aspinall quit? Probably not.

But, at the very least, a different tone might have offered the Englishman some cover instead of giving detractors fresh ammunition drawn from the CEO’s own remarks. Now, as Brendan Schaub explained how Dana White’s remarks may have fueled trolls to target Tom Aspinall, he also had a few words for the critics themselves. 

Schaub fires back at Aspinall critics 

For perhaps the first time in his UFC career, Aspinall looked to be under real pressure in the opening round against Ciryl Gane, who bloodied his nose early. So when the heavyweight champion refused to continue following the vicious eye poke, many fans reacted harshly and labeled him a quitter. Some even pushed the narrative further, claiming he got scared after facing adversity for the first time. Schaub directly pushed back on that idea, calling out what he saw as a wildly unfair take.

“You know how dumb you have to be? Talking about a guy who grew up in a jiu-jitsu dojo, who has dedicated his entire life,” Schaub said in a clip posted to X. “Who’s the baddest man walking on the planet? He would be faking all this for what? Because of Ciryl Gane? No one’s scared of Ciryl Gane. It’s a great matchup for Tom. But he struggled for that round. What the f—k are you talking about? That’s why a fight is five rounds, dumb a—s. I do not get it. It’s heartbreaking.”

In truth, Aspinall has run through nearly every heavyweight put in front of him. From Curtis Blaydes to Sergei Pavlovich, the Brit has steamrolled his opponents, and has done so in brutal fashion. So, it is hardly a stretch to say that one tough outing against Ciryl Gane shouldn’t scare him.

With that said the heavyweight title scene remains uncertain due to Aspinall’s unavailability. While the Englishman recovers, MMA anaylysts including Michael Bisping and Matt Brown suggest the UFC to book an interim title fight brtween Alex Pereira and Gane. They further propsed to book the winner in a match against Aspinall.

That said,  do you think Tom Aspinall can make a strong comeback, Or his jarring eye injury will be too hard to deal with? Let us know in the comments section below.