Brett Okamoto has reported on mixed martial arts and boxing at ESPN since 2010. He has covered all of the biggest events in combat sports during that time, including in-depth interviews and features with names such as Dana White, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Georges St-Pierre. He was also a producer on the 30 for 30 film: “Chuck and Tito,” which looked back at the careers and rivalry of Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. He lives in Las Vegas, and is an avid, below-average golfer in his spare time.
UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall is still awaiting medical clearance to return to training following an illegal eye poke by Ciryl Gane during their title bout on Oct. 25 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Aspinall (15-3) released an update on social media Sunday, in which he revealed he might require surgery to address lingering symptoms from the eye poke. He also took the opportunity to label Gane “a big cheater,” and said he believes Gane committed the foul on purpose. The heavyweight title bout was ruled a no-contest, when Aspinall was unable to continue after receiving the eye poke late in the first round.
“When it happened initially, I didn’t really think much of it,” Aspinall said. “I thought it was an accidental eye poke. When I watch the fight back, that’s when I really got the gist of what’s going on. The guy was trying to f—ing poke my eyes out all the way through that round. Multiple exchanges, nearly every exchange I could have put him in danger, he had his fingers out, pointing towards my eyes. The guy was cheating from the first second. The way that he wanted to win that fight was to have me compromised by cheating.”
Aspinall, of England, also acknowledged he was not thrilled with UFC CEO Dana White’s postfight comments that night, in which White mentioned Aspinall’s bloody nose in the bout and stated, “Tom didn’t want to continue in the fight.”
“I didn’t continue and I’ll tell you why,” Aspinall said. “Because I’m not a f—ing dummy. I’m not going to go out there and fight one of the best strikers in the world when I can’t see with one eye. I know, as an MMA fighter, things are going to happen in a fight that compromises you. If it’s a legal move, you have to fight through it. That’s what we do as a fighter. But if it’s illegal, why am I going to put my health at risk when I can’t see at all?”
The UFC has indicated it intends to rebook the Aspinall-Gane matchup as soon as possible. Aspinall said he is eager for the fight as well but doesn’t have clarity on a timeline for his recovery. According to a medical summarization shared on Aspinall’s social media, he is still suffering from double vision and blurred vision.
The result of the bout was catastrophic for all parties, as Aspinall’s career and the UFC’s heavyweight division had been in a holding pattern for the better part of 2025. The UFC forced Aspinall into the extremely rare position of winning an interim title fight and defending it once, while it waited to make a lucrative matchup between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic in 2024. Jones was expected to face Aspinall in 2025 and get the division moving, but Jones opted to announce his retirement instead.
“I think right now, we’ve got to focus on the path back to normal and following doctors’ orders,” Aspinall said. “That’s all I can control right now. We’ll cross the bridge [of my future with the UFC] when I’m feeling better and everything is right. If you were sidelined from doing your job for 15 months [due to the situation with Jones], not allowed to do anything, then train your ass off for six months for a fight to get double eye-poked and left with no vision for nearly six weeks because of an illegal move, how do you think I feel? I’m not feeling fantastic, am I?”
