Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping knows a thing or two about eye surgeries. Even so, he can’t wrap his mind around the two Tom Aspinall has had after his double eye-poke incident during the Ciryl Gane fight at UFC 321 in October. So, Bisping joined Paul Felder in his podcast recently to rip into the English heavyweight champion. 

“He just said he’s still not clear to fight…,” Bisping said. “But he’s been very vague with the details… He’s got a YouTube channel, he posts content all the time. You talk about it. The procedures that he had, the operations, whatever they were.

“I had a surgery. It was a very, very serious surgery. It’s called [Scleral buckling]. Look it up online. It’s gross what they do to the eyeball. I don’t know what he had, but he hasn’t talked about that. I had that surgery, recovered, came back, and had a fight in a shorter amount of time than what it’s taken this whole poke saga.”

While specific details about the surgery remain unclear, diagnosis notes shared by Tom Aspinall indicate that he suffered “significant bilateral ocular trauma.” His symptoms included persistent vision problems, such as blurred vision, double vision, and other complications that failed to resolve naturally. 

According to the notes, his condition was “consistent with significant traumatic bilateral Brown’s syndrome, associated with ongoing diplopia, restricted ocular motility, reduced visual function and substantial field loss.” By comparison, Bisping’s eye injury and subsequent surgery appear to have been far more severe.

Scleral buckling is a surgical procedure used to repair a detached retina. It involves placing a small silicone band or sponge around the white part of the eye to gently push the outer wall inward, relieving traction on the retina and allowing it to reattach. Bisping suffered the injury after absorbing a head kick from Vitor Belfort during their fight in January 2013.

Despite the damage, he returned to action in April of the same year and even earned a decision victory over Alan Belcher. By that point, however, Bisping was effectively blind in one eye and still chose to continue fighting. In comparison, more than six months have passed since Aspinall suffered the eye poke. That’s why Bisping feels there’s something fishy going on. 

“I know Tom,” he added. “We used to have a close relationship. We don’t talk these days. There’s something f—king weird going on. That’s what it looks like. That’s what it sounds like.”

Aspinall may not be cleared to fight yet, but he claimed he has been cleared for training. He even had a sparring session with a YouTuber. Interestingly, though, Bisping isn’t the only one questioning Aspinall’s situation. After suffering an eye poke of his own shortly after Aspinall’s injury, Waldo Cortes-Acosta accused the Brit of quitting.

It’s also worth noting that Bisping’s and Aspinall’s situations could be vastly different. Injuries affect people in different ways, and recovery timelines can vary significantly from one individual to another. As a result, it’s difficult to draw direct comparisons between two seemingly similar injuries. So, what does all of this mean? 

When will Tom Aspinall return?

Despite the issues Tom Aspinall has been facing lately, a return timeline for the Brit is not difficult to predict. While Aspinall remains on the sidelines, the UFC has matched Ciryl Gane with Alex Pereira for the interim heavyweight title. The pair will collide on June 14 at the UFC White House card. And the winner could go on to face Aspinall for the full title later this year. Aspinall himself acknowledged this. 

“Everyone keeps asking when I’m going to fight,” Aspinall said in a video. “The obvious answer is [that] the other two guys, Alex and Ciryl, have to fight for the interim title. I’m obviously going to fight the winner. The UFC has told me that I’m fighting the winner.”

However, Aspinall is uncertain about when that fight may happen. He is currently waiting to be cleared for fighting. And once a call from the UFC comes his way, he will be ready. 

At the end of the day, it’s clear that Tom Aspinall isn’t fighting anytime soon. For now, all fans can do is wait and see who comes out victorious on June 14.