UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall has described the aftermath of the eye injuries he suffered against Ciryl Gane as the most painful experience of his life, saying multiple surgeries were far worse than undergoing a vasectomy.
Aspinall’s UFC 321 title bout against Gane ended in a no contest after multiple accidental eye pokes left the Brit unable to continue. Speaking on the Great Company with Jamie Lang podcast, Aspinall detailed the extent of the damage and the recovery process that followed, revealing he underwent three eye surgeries.
“I’ve had three [eye] surgeries,” said Aspinall, according to the Great Company with Jamie Lang podcast, as noted by Sherdog. “I had one on the left and two on the right. By the way, I’ve had the snip, right? I’ve had a vasectomy, and I was thinking that has got to be the worst surgery ever. Mate, compared to eye surgery, it is nothing. Honestly.” He added: “It’s f*cking horrendous. They kept me awake. They put something on to keep your eyeball open… they numb your eye… and they’re coming at you with a scalpel or knife, whatever it’s called, and you’re just watching them slice your eyeball open. It was horrendous.”
Aspinall also admitted he feared the injury could permanently affect his vision in the weeks following the contest. “At first, I was super scared about it, to be honest,” said Aspinall. “Especially the first two weeks. Yeah, I was really scared about it.” Addressing criticism from fans who questioned whether he wanted to continue fighting, Aspinall said: “If you’re going to sit behind your phone and comment on the toughness of a professional MMA fighter, then you don’t really know what you’re talking about.”
The British heavyweight has since said he is ready to return to competition, with a rematch against interim champion Gane expected to take place later this year following the inconclusive ending to their first meeting. Aspinall has established himself as one of the UFC’s leading heavyweight contenders in recent years, with the no contest against Gane marking the first time one of his promotional bouts failed to produce a definitive result.
