Tom Aspinall is out! It is due to an injury, and nobody expects him to return to fight for several months now. But could there be a reason that would force Aspinall to return faster? As of now, a potential heavyweight fight between Jon Jones and Alex Pereira is in talks. And along with that, several contenders are calling for an interim championship fight. Is that enough to spark a reaction from the champion? As it seems, it is.

“Back to Business 👑👊,” wrote Tom Aspinall in an Instagram post.

While Aspinall has not yet provided details about his return to Octagon, the timing of the tweet suggests a strong possibility. The heavyweight champion underwent surgery on both eyes last month and might be ready to return in a few months. In that case, Aspinall’s post does suggest he must have started training for his next fight. But surely this, coming in just days after developments around his division, makes it interesting.

Speaking of his injury, who knew Aspinall would face another injury in his UFC career? The first injury was during his fight against Curtis Blaydes in 2022, where he suffered a torn MCL, a torn meniscus, and ACL damage. The impact was severe as it left Aspinall out for a year.

The Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, which hosted UFC 321, bore witness to Aspinall fighting Ciryl Gane in his first title defense. But contrary to the expectations, the bout turned dramatic as the champion declared unable to continue after taking eye pokes from Gane.

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While the severity of the eye pokes was unknown at that time, later he was reported diagnosed with bilateral traumatic Brown’s syndrome. It is a rare condition that affects the muscles and tendons, controlling eye movement.

Due to that, Aspinall had to undergo double eye surgery. And there is no definite recovery time for that condition. Hence, it will be interesting to see when the UFC heavyweight champion returns and how the division moves forward in his absence.

Alex Pereira in talks for Jon Jones after the heavyweight move

The latest development around the heavyweight division is Alex Pereira‘s move. And the Brazilian vacated the UFC light heavyweight title to make that move. Surely, he is looking for big matchups or the three-division-champion feat that nobody has ever achieved.

In that regard, a fight between ‘Poatan’ and Jon Jones is being highly discussed. For Jones, he sees it as a legacy matchup, and for the Brazilian, it’s a big money matchup.

“I always talked about this fight at heavyweight. I wanted it [a fight against Jones],” said Pereira during an appearance on the Connect Cast podcast. “But then I said, ‘No, I’ll stay in my weight class.’ But then I said, ‘Damn, I’m 38 years old, you know?’ I’m also thinking about my career, right? I think this is the fight that needs to happen.”

With a potential victory over Jones, ‘Poatan’ will surely align himself for a title shot against Tom Aspinall whenever he returns. However, since the return timeline is uncertain, several contenders, such as Waldo Cortes-Acosta, are calling for an interim title fight.

Then again, the ultimate decision lies in the hands of the UFC. But as of now, there are many angles that the promotion can explore following Aspinall’s injury. On that note, do you think an interim title fight should be announced amid the champion’s absence? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!