Henry Cejudo has had enough of Tom Aspinall sitting on the sidelines.
Aspinall has been out of action since October 2025, when he suffered a pair of eye pokes from Ciryl Gane in the main event of UFC 321 that left him unable to continue and rendered the heavyweight title fight a no-contest. Since then, Aspinall has been in full recovery mode, undergoing eye surgery and steadily healing, with no timetable for his comeback established as of yet.
Next month will mark a full year off for Aspinall, so Cejudo
thinks he and the UFC need to get on the same page when it comes to putting his belt up for grabs.
“I think Tom Aspinall needs to vacate or be stripped at this point,” Cejudo said on his Pound-4-Pound podcast. “What I’m saying is, as a champion, if you’re hurt and you’re unwilling to compete, vacate the belt, let somebody be called undisputed until you’re actually back.”
It’s been a slow climb to the top for Aspinall, who has competed just four times since July 2022. On that date, Aspinall suffered a freak knee injury in a loss to Curtis Blaydes that shelved him for a year, and though he later went on to capture and defend an interim heavyweight title—including avenging his loss to Blaydes—much of the past few years were wasted in a fruitless attempt to book a matchup with undisputed heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
Eventually, Jones retired, and Aspinall was elevated to undisputed status. However, his first title defense ended in disaster when Gane’s foul brought an unceremonious end to their duel. Aspinall is currently employing Matchroom Boxing boss Eddie Hearn as a manager, putting him in an awkward place as Hearn and UFC CEO Dana White continue to publicly butt heads over several topics, including Hearn calling Aspinall’s UFC contract “a f*cking disgrace.”
“Eddie Hearn does not help Tom Aspinall,” Cejudo said. “He’s got no leverage. Time’s almost up. It’s f*cking Oct. 25, by the time Oct. 26 hits, he has a right to be stripped after that. Eddie Hearn cannot help him if Tom Aspinall does not fight; it’s just not there. There’s no negotiations, especially you’re poking the bear.
“Dana White’s the bear. Dana White’s the f*cking pink elephant in the room. You’re f*cking with the boss. If you’re doing that, it’s not good business to have Dana White as your enemy.”
Though several UFC champions have gone a year without fighting and retained their titles—including current bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison—Cejudo doubts the UFC will wait much longer for Aspinall to make his way back into the octagon.
“Once that year is up, you’re done,” Cejudo said. “You’re getting stripped, or they’re telling you, ‘Hey, you’re getting stripped, or you’re going to vacate. Which one do you want to do? Do you want to strip, or do you want to vacate and come out with your words, where you could do it and it sounds a little better?’
“But f*ck no, you’re getting stripped.”
