Tom Aspinall recently addressed the rumors surrounding his UFC exit that had spread like wildfire over the past few days. The UFC heavyweight champion firmly clarified in his statement that the rumors were “simply not true.” Even so, many were eager to hear Dana White’s thoughts on the sudden departure rumors surrounding one of his promotion’s marquee champions. The UFC CEO has now broken his silence.

“He is not going anywhere,” White told Spinning Backfist. “He is with us, and we’re good with Tom Aspinall, and I didn’t know that. I didn’t know what his striking coach had said that. But obviously that’s not true. Sounds like Tom clarified that.”

One of the key reasons many found the Aspinall exit rumor believable was that it came directly from his striking coach, Stipe Drvis. Aspinall’s coach appeared on his livestream a few days ago and claimed that the Englishman would be leaving the UFC. However, he didn’t provide any specific reason behind the claim, which only fueled further skepticism and speculation surrounding Aspinall’s potential departure from the promotion.

As we can see, Dana White was also bewildered by the ongoing rumors surrounding the heavyweight champion’s UFC exit. But now, both sides have firmly established that Aspinall’s immediate future remains with his current promotion. He will likely be looking ahead to a title-unification bout with Ciryl Gane once he is healthy enough to return.

The UFC CEO also claimed in his interview with Spinning Backfist that Aspinall would make his return “whenever he is healthy.”

However, while the UFC CEO’s reaction remained relatively measured, Daniel Cormier, on the other hand, had a much harsher response, directing his criticism toward Aspinall’s manager and White’s rival promoter, Eddie Hearn. While reacting to the rumors surrounding Tom Aspinall, the former two-division champion slammed Hearn for allegedly sabotaging the British heavyweight’s career by preventing him from fighting under his current contract.

Following both Tom Aspinall and Dana White’s clarification about the heavyweight champion’s future with the promotion, his UFC career now appears firmly intact. However, based on his statement, the Salford native has already received another callout from a verbose heavyweight contender looking for a fight.

Josh Hokit calls out Tom Aspinall amid debunked UFC exit speculation

From the day Josh Hokit emerged as one of the prime contenders for the heavyweight title, the Californian hasn’t missed a single opportunity to target the champion. Now, with the Englishman debunking the fresh rumors of parting ways with the UFC, Hokit seized the opportunity to issue another stern callout.

“Tom, I would like to focus in on the part that says ‘we are talking with the UFC daily’. Why would you be talking to them daily & who is we?” Hokit wrote on X. “You have a contract. I’d fight you tomorrow, so opponents aren’t the problem. In June you started training. Tell us what the problem is, Tom.”

To clarify Hokit’s confusion, Aspinall could have been referring to his management team, including Eddie Hearn, when he mentioned “we” in his statement. Regardless, the 28-year-old vividly remembers that Aspinall started training in late June, implying that his vision problems stemming from the UFC 321 eye poke by Ciryl Gane have completely recovered.

Right after Ciryl Gane decimated Alex Pereira at UFC White House, Hokit took to social media and called on the UFC to “cut” Tom Aspinall and make the Frenchman the undisputed champion.

The Californian, who’s rumored to face ‘Poatan’ in his next fight, then directed the callout toward Gane. But now, he’s willing to clash with Aspinall if the UFC presents the opportunity.

However, with Ciryl Gane holding the interim belt for the second time in his career and Tom Aspinall already accepting the rematch, Hokit’s chances are looking slim unless he serves as a backup whenever the two eventually fight. That said, whatever the future holds for the Englishman, we can safely say it’s going to be in the UFC, as he’s not leaving the promotion.