UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping is hopeful that Tom Aspinall fights again.
Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) vacated the UFC heavyweight championship after "ongoing complications" caused by eye pokes in his no contest against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 last October. Despite undergoing multiple surgeries, Aspinall has struggled to regain his full vision and receive medical clearance to compete.
Former UFC middleweight champion Bisping famously fought with vision in one eye for a good portion of his career after detaching his right retina in a knockout loss to Vitor Belfort. Bisping explained how trying to rush back to competition is what cost him going blind in one eye.
"'Bisping did it practically blind.' Well, I did, but they're not the same thing," Bisping said
on his YouTube channel. "I wasn't in a fight and then lost the vision in one eye, OK, and then chose to carry on fighting. No, it was a completely different set of circumstances. Tom was double poked in the eye. I still give Ciryl Gane the benefit of the doubt. I don't think fighters are purposely looking to poke people in the eye. It just happens with those types of gloves. But for me, I lost a fight fair and square to Vitor Belfort even though he was juiced out of his mind. I detached my retina. I rushed back to training too quick. I rushed back to training and sparring very hard. My retina re-detached. I think I got glaucoma, which was terrible.
"It was so painful, one of the worst experiences of my life, and I had surgery to improve that and then when I came around, my vision was gone. Dana White called me up himself and said, 'Have you spoken to your doctors yet?' And I said no. He said, 'Well, I have, and you're never going to fight again.' So, the situation (with me) is very, very different. I had to fight again. I had just moved to America. This was all that I had. So, one way or the other, I made my way back to the octagon, and it wasn't easy. It was very stressful, and I lied and all the rest of it. I wasn't trying to get my vision improved. That ship had sailed. So, it's a completely different situation for Tom Aspinall. Tom Aspinall still has the ability to come back. He's had setbacks."
Aspinall re-injured his eye during training and was not medically cleared to compete by the end of this year. Bisping admits he thought it was a bit of an exaggeration until Aspinall gave up his belt Monday. The UFC Hall of Famer still sees potential in an Aspinall comeback – if he handles the situation correctly.
"It's really, really awful, and you've got to feel for Tom," Bisping said. "He's a great guy. He's never talked sh*t about anyone, about his opponents either. So, the fact that people come for him and talk sh*t and call him a p*ssy and say he's ducking and all the rest of it is just ridiculous. The man has been very, very unfortunate. ... All of mine was after the fight, outside the octagon. Tom still has a pathway to come back. He's just got to take his time."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Michael Bisping empathizes with Tom Aspinall, hopes ex-UFC champ fights again
