New footage featuring Tom Aspinall has triggered debate across the MMA community as the heavyweight division remains clouded by uncertainty. The undisputed champion has been sidelined since his no-contest bout with Ciryl Gane at UFC 321, where a double eye poke led to multiple eye surgeries. In the aftermath, Aspinall’s team claimed that he was experiencing visual complications, including difficulty seeing and blurred vision, raising concerns about the timeline of his recovery and return.

“Obviously, Tom’s had quite a serious injury. It was a significant eye poke that led to a few different issues. He also has visual field defects,” Dr. Rehman stated, revealing details of the heavyweight champion’s eye surgery.

Against that backdrop, the clip surfaced showing Aspinall casually performing kick-ups with a small football, displaying smooth coordination and control. The video quickly fueled discussion. Eye pokes are not minor inconveniences in combat sports; they carry genuine career-altering risk, which makes the situation all the more serious. Well, it can be argued that without proper eye coordination, it is difficult. Muscle memory plays a significant role in repetitive motor skills. And, most British men learn tricks with football as they are tied to the sport from a young age.

The United Kingdom’s deeply rooted football culture is embedded in every growing child, and many athletes grow up performing ball-control drills long before taking up their choice of sport.  The body’s familiarity with these motions can sometimes mask underlying variables that a short video simply cannot capture. While some fans leaned towards questioning the kick-ups, others argued that it was not fake, and the eye poke was a serious matter.

MIRACLE: Blind man performs kick-ups with a small soccer ball effortlessly without any assistance.
by
u/IgotgAme_k in
ufc

Discussions about scrapping the heavyweight division in the UFC are an ongoing debate in the circuit. There have been talks of the middleweight champion, Alex Pereira, stepping up to set things in motion in the 206-pound division.

News served to you like never before!

Prefer us on Google, To get latest news on feed

Prefer Us on Google

Tom Aspinall’s viral clip sparks fresh debate over coordination concerns

The visually striking clip is giving the fans another added layer to an already flared-up conversation. A user wrote, “His coaches said his coordination was completely fucked? Don’t get how he’s able to do this if that’s the case.” Pointing out the recent turn of events and news, a user wrote, “This video is AI-generated by the French government,” referring to Ciryl Gane being French here. Another user added a practical statement: “I am no sports scientist, but I feel like doing kick-ups and trying not to get knocked out by a heavyweight are in slightly different ballparks.” 

Another user shared the same idea: “Anyone male in the UK can perform a few keepy-ups with their eyes closed. Brazilians with no eyes and one leg can do 100+.” Another pointed to the timeline inconsistency, noting, “Buddy, he said his coordination is completely off like two days ago.”

With that said, a viral clip cannot confirm improvement, nor can it suggest that anything was “faked.” In combat sports, only actual fights provide real answers, and until that moment arrives, everything else is just noise.

While Aspinall continues his recovery, multiple MMA analysts, including Matt Brown and Michael Bisping, have called for the UFC to book Alex Pereira against Ciryl Gane in an interim heavyweight title fight and for the division to move. Whether the UFC decides to take that route remains to be seen, and fans are likely to get an update over time.