Winning the UFC belt is meant to provide clarity. For Tom Aspinall, it has created limbo. Nearly four months after his first undisputed heavyweight title defense descended into chaos, the champion is still engaged in a struggle unrelated to rankings, trash talk, or contracts. His problem is far simpler—and scarier. He’s trying to see clearly again.

The irony is not lost on fans. Aspinall waited over a year for his moment, watched Jon Jones walk away, was crowned undisputed champion, and then saw it all stall within minutes. What was supposed to be a statement defense against Ciryl Gane turned into uncertainty, frustration, and now surgery. Again.

Tom Aspinall continues long recovery after eye poke against Ciryl Gane

The damage dates back to UFC 321 last October, when a double eye poke from Ciryl Gane resulted in a no-contest. The Briton couldn’t see well enough to continue, and the fight ended almost immediately. At the time, the gravity of the situation was not fully understood by the public, and some of the early messaging around the incident only added fuel to the fire.

As the weeks passed, the truth came out. The UFC heavyweight champion’s vision didn’t simply “clear up.” Tom Aspinall disclosed that he needed surgery on both eyes, but that wasn’t the end of the process. Over the last few months, his ophthalmologists have worked closely with him, carefully managing a recovery that has no fixed timeline.

This reality was reinforced this week when Optegra Eye Health Care released behind-the-scenes images of Aspinall’s treatment. According to them, the focus has been on a long-term journey rather than a quick fix. Now, after two eye surgeries, the goal is simple but demanding: get his vision back to fighting fitness.

They wrote, “Over recent months we’ve been working closely with him on his recovery. Following his operation on both eyes, we continue the journey to get Tom’s vision back to fighting fitness.” The uncertainty hasn’t helped his relationship with the UFC, though. Dana White initially claimed that Tom Aspinall didn’t want to continue the bout, then minimized the injury before stating that he no longer wanted to address it.

Meanwhile, the Briton has been living with the consequences on a daily basis: bad vision, ongoing treatment, and no clear return date. What comes next is still unclear. The goal looks to be a rematch with Ciryl Gane after Tom Aspinall is cleared; however, talk of an interim heavyweight belt has also surfaced.

Dana White told to create another interim UFC title

The uncertainty surrounding Tom Aspinall is beginning to bleed into the bigger heavyweight picture. The UFC has already shown a willingness to use interim titles to keep divisions moving, most notably at lightweight. When the champion is unavailable, the promotion tends to prioritize activity over patience, and the heavyweight is now stuck in the same difficult position.

Waldo Cortes-Acosta has been the first candidate to say it out loud. After stopping Derrick Lewis, he pointed to the logjam at the top and made a simple argument: if Tom Aspinall isn’t close to returning, the division needs something to fight for. “I want to fight Alexander Volkov or Ciryl Gane. They’re waiting,” Cortes-Acosta told Hablemos MMA.

An interim belt, according to him, would at the very least restore direction and provide the winner with a clear path to the real title. “I assume Tom Aspinall is not fighting anytime soon, so why not put an interim title in place? Whoever wins fights the champion, should they make the rematch between Ciryl Gane and Tom Aspinall,” he added.

The timing matters because the heavyweight division no longer carries itself on reputation alone. Outside of a few elite names, the quality declines quickly, as recent clashes have shown. The most recent example is Tai Tuivasa‘s sixth consecutive UFC loss at UFC 325, as it exemplified what modern-day heavyweight fights are like.

He and Tallison Teixeira traded sluggish blows in a tiring, low-skill, low-stamina bout that has become usual in the division that was once considered the biggest in the UFC in terms of hype. So now, an interim title would not be about creating drama or buzz; it would be about keeping the division sharp while its champion recovers.