Tom Aspinall's Eye Doctor Maps Out UFC Return in Never-Before-Seen Clip
An update on Aspinall's return.
Featured Image Credit: The Ariel Helwani Show
Topics: Tom Aspinall, UFC, MMA, Injury, Ariel Helwani
Tom Jenkins
Topics: Tom Aspinall, UFC, MMA, Injury, Ariel Helwani
Tom Aspinall's eventual comeback to the UFC has been made clearer, as his eye doctor has revealed when he can make a return to full training.
The Manchester born heavyweight defended his UFC heavyweight title for the first time in October, when he took on Ciryl Gane in the UFC 321 main event.
However, Aspinall was caught with a nasty double eye poke at the end of the first round, which consequently ended the fight as a no-contest.
The decision saw fans in attendance boo the situation as the British fighter let rip in an x-rated interview in the Octagon.
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After a month of silence, Aspinall provided an update on Sunday, which revealed he has been diagnosed with significant traumatic bilateral Brown’s syndrome, a rare eye disorder.
Due to the diagnosis Aspinall has not yet been medically cleared to begin training again, with a rematch with Gane is still a fair bit away looking a considerable distance away.
The document summary read: "This constitutes clinically significant bilateral ocular trauma requiring ongoing consultant-led management. Mr Aspinall is not yet medically cleared for combat activity."
However, in a new episode of the Ariel Helwani Show, Aspinall's eye doctor Dr Aws Al-Hity gave an update on when the 32-year-old can return to full contact training in exclusive footage of his visit.
"How long till I can train properly spar?" Aspinall asked.
"It's a long road ahead but the prognosis is guarded at the moment, I would recommend that you wouldn't fight until your double vision is resolved," Dr Al-Hity explained.
"This is for two reasons one it could potentially make things worse and set you back even further, or that you're training because you're still having double vision looking into the periphery and you wouldn't be at your peak," he added.
Aspinall's doctor went on to praise his decision to not continue against Gane, stressing the potential further damage that could have been caused.
"So that's my two that's the main the main reason, I'm sorry that has happened and it's not nice, it's not nice to be in this position with lots of pressure probably coming from the side," he continued.
"I know you want to fight, and I know you want to get back in there, but you'll have obviously noticed something.
He added: "You had the courage to make that decision in a stressful environment, and follow through with that decision, which has obviously been in my view the correct decision."