Tom Aspinall’s striking coach recently suggested that the heavyweight champion could be parting ways with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), but Dana White isn’t buying it.
In case you haven’t been paying attention, Aspinall hasn’t fought inside of the Octagon since Oct. 2025 when he met Ciryl Gane at UFC 321. That heavyweight title fight ended in a no contest after a few nasty eye pokes rendered Aspinall incapable of continuing. The English star has been sidelined ever since for the aforementioned
eye injury, but many believe Aspinall could have returned sooner.
It hasn’t been said out loud, but Aspinall’s prolonged layoff has put a strain on his relationship with UFC. Not to mention his recent partnership with new manager, Eddie Hearn, who has become White’s biggest rival.
Earlier this week, one of Aspinall’s coaches mentioned that the UFC heavyweight king may actually be parting ways with the promotion. That seemed a bit drastic and according to Aspinall himself it’s not true. It certainly doesn’t look good that members of Aspinall’s team are discussing this, but that’s sort of where we’re at with this whole Aspinall-UFC situation. It hasn’t been good for a while.
White, who has no plans of forcing Aspinall to fight, recently sat down with Spinnin Backfist and was asked about the comments from earlier this week, showing zero concern that Aspinall is actually leaving UFC. Check it out below and let us know your thoughts!
“Whenever he’s healthy [he’ll return],” said White. “He’s not going anywhere. He’s with us, and we’re good with Tom Aspinall.
“I didn’t know his striking coach had said that, but, obviously, that’s not true. And sounds like Tom clarified that. But yeah, we’re good. When he’s healthy and ready to fight, he’ll fight.”
