With Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane fighting for the interim heavyweight title on June 14th, the heavyweight division is finally taking a solid step forward. But the most important factor in the division — Tom Aspinall — may be taking a step back at the same time.
After months of bad news relating to the condition of his injured eyes, things seemed to be looking up for Aspinall. Video footage from his YouTube vlogs showed the undisputed heavyweight champion slowly starting to train lightly again after
over half a year off and several surgeries. But the latest update isn’t so great.
“I’ve just had my recent scan,” Aspinall said on the Fight Your Corner podcast. “I thought it was going to get cleared actually to spar and fight straight away but they actually said they’ve given me another couple of months so I’m just waiting.”
When Aspinall vs. Gane at UFC 321 ended via No Contest due to Ciryl poking Tom in both eyes, UFC CEO Dana White said they’d turn around and re-book the fight as soon as possible. That was October 2025, and Aspinall is still in no condition to fight due to the damage generated by those pokes.
The UFC went ahead and booked an interim heavyweight title fight between Gane and former middleweight and light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira which will co-main the big White House card on June 14th. When asked for his opinion on that fight, Aspinall leaned towards Gane winning.
“Alex Pereira is very good when he fights light heavyweights or middleweights who don’t move a lot,” Aspinall said. “Ciryl Gane is a massive heavyweight who moves a lot. Moves really well. So, stylistically, I think it’s a good matchup for Gane.”
“That being said, Gane doesn’t like leg kicks. He doesn’t fare well against leg kicks. He’s a good kicker, but if someone kicks him, his leg kick defense isn’t great. I struggle to pick a winner at this stage to be honest. I would say Gane by points. I think he’s just going to move too much for him and beat him on points.”
Keep in mind Aspinall’s choice may be influenced by his desire to kick Gane’s ass for the months of hell caused by his careless toilet fingers. To us, we don’t care if Tommy fights Gane or Pereira next. We’re just hoping Aspinall returns at all in 2026.
