Despite being one of the standout fighters, Tom Aspinall may not have received the empathy he deserves. His UFC 321 fight against Ciryl Gane just halted his reign as the heavyweight champion. As such, Aspinall opted not to continue the bout after suffering several eye pokes. While Gane’s actions were quite severe, Aspinall’s friend, Eddie Hall, has shared how people have been reacting to the situation.
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“I think Tom’s been hard done by for sure,” said Hall in an interview with Bloody Elbow. “It’s stuff that couldn’t be helped, and he hasn’t had much support in my opinion. Tom’s the champion of the world, and he’s had that sort of thing taken away from him through no fault of his own.
And he’s going to have to step away now and rebuild that and start again basically. Hopefully, he can make the money, and I guess we all fight for these titles, but at the end of the day, it’s to put bread on the table for our families. I really hope that Tom is going to be able to do that now.”
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For those unaware, Tom Aspinall and Eddie Hall have built a strong camaraderie with each other. And that comes especially through their shared interest in combat sports. To that end, the 2017 World Strongest Man champion is now set to make his professional boxing debut against Tommy Fury on June 13.
Before that, Hall had already made his MMA debut against Mariusz Pudzianowski last year. And interestingly, Aspinall played a pivotal role in preparing him for that bout. Well, probably due to the bond, Hall has voiced his disappointment with the backlash the UFC heavyweight champion faced.
Although not directly, many in the community noted that Aspinall could have continued the fight against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321. Among the many, Jon Jones noted that whenever any adversity hits, the 32-year-old has always opted to quit. To back his statement, Jones cited Aspinall’s knee injury loss against Curtis Blaydes in 2022.
Within just 15 seconds into that fight, Aspinall landed a leg strike where his knee connected with Blaydes’. And immediately, the Brit lay down on his back, failing to continue. Quite a similar incident, right? But of course, the severity of the injury on both occasions was quite extreme.
As such, for his 2022 injury, Aspinall stayed away from the octagon for almost a year. Likewise, for his latest, the potential return timeline is also expected to be similar. Amid that, the UFC heavyweight champion has taken a few gradual steps towards his comeback.
Tom Aspinall enters UFC drug testing pool with partial training
Right after failing to continue against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321, Tom Aspinall was seen wearing eye patches following a hospital visit. While the severity of the damage was unknown at that time, Aspinall’s difficulties were quite visible.
Later, the UFC heavyweight was diagnosed with traumatic bilateral Brown’s syndrome, which typically affects eye movements. And Aspinall had to undergo double eye surgery to cure that. While there is no confirmed timeline of recovery, Aspinall has felt better lately. To that end, he even started light training.
“I know we’ve not done one of these for quite some time,” said Aspinall on his YouTube channel. “Just been back in the gym doing a little bit of light training, still waiting to get fully cleared for contact on my eye. But we’re back in the gym doing a little bit. I will show you a bit of that later in the week.”
Not just that, the 32-year-old also reportedly entered UFC’s mandatory drug testing pool. For those unaware, it is one of the necessary steps for every fighter making a return from a hiatus. Surely, these slow steps show a positive outlook for Aspinall’s comeback.
However, it will be interesting to see who he will face on his return. Practically, the interim UFC heavyweight title winner between Ciryl Gane and Alex Pereira, who will fight on June 14, is set to be a frontrunner for it. But of course, that has time. As of now, Aspinall will spend time watching others, including his friends Tommy Fury and Eddie Hall, as they fight.
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Ashvinkumar Nilkanth Patil