Michael Bisping suggests radical eye poke rule change ahead of Tom Aspinall comeback

Former UFC champion Michael Bisping has claimed that eye pokes should be met with severe punishment ahead of Tom Aspinall's return.

Back in June 2016, former UFC middleweight Bisping made history as he defeated Luke Rockhold at UFC 199 to become the first-ever British champion.

The Lancashire man stepped in on only 17 days' notice to replace an injured Chris Weidman for his first title chance and made the most of it by knocking out his rival just three minutes into the first round.

Following the win, Bisping successfully defended the belt when he brought it home to Manchester for a bout against former foe Dan Henderson before eventually losing his title to a man many consider to be the greatest of all-time, Georges St-Pierre.

However, the most impressive thing about Bisping's career wasn't that he became Britain's first UFC champion; it's that he did so with only one eye.

During a fight against Vitor Belfort in 2013, Bisping suffered a detached retina in his right eye but concealed the injury from the UFC so that he could continue fighting for a further five years.

Therefore, when fellow British champion Aspinall suffered a brutal eye injury during his first heavyweight title defence against Ciryl Gane last year, there was perhaps no man who knew more about what Aspinall was going through than Bisping.

Shortly before the end of the first round at UFC 321 in October, Aspinall suffered a gruesome injury following a double eye poke from Gane, rendering the fight a no-contest.

Since then, many have questioned when, or if, the 33-year-old will be fit and ready to return to the octagon to further cement his place as Britain's only current UFC champion.

As it stands, it is widely expected that the Aspinall will come back later this year, and when he does, Bisping has revealed the challenges that the heavyweight will have to face, during an exclusive interview with SPORTbible, via prediction market experts Casino.org.

“Only time will tell, because it's not just the impact of the eye injury, it's also dealing with all the idiots online. Because the MMA fan base can be quite toxic," Bisping claimed.

"There was a big attack on Tom online and he didn't deserve any of the fallout or the negative backlash from fans. All I ever see online is people trash-talking him.

"We're all human beings and that can be a lot to deal with, but the best thing that Tom can do is just to ignore all of that, come back, knock out whoever it is he next faces, and then everyone's gonna love him again because that's how fickle a lot of fans are.

"He needs to just shut out all of the noise.”

Bisping is regarded by many as the Godfather of British MMA. (Image: Getty Images)

When Aspinall does return to the octagon, it will almost certainly be against the winner of the upcoming interim heavyweight title clash between former foe Gane and two-weight champion Alex Pereira at the White House this month.

Either fight is an exciting matchup for Aspinall, and Bisping is confident that his countryman will come back as good as ever and remind fans why he's the baddest man on the planet.

“He was doing okay in the Ciryl Gane fight. It was a competitive fight. I think he's going to be fine," Bisping added.

"I came back with one eye and won the world title. He had a bad eye poke, and he's had a lot of time away, but I think he will be just fine.”

Michael Bisping suggests UFC implement drastic rule change for eye pokes

Following Aspinall's injury during the Gane fight, critics, including Ariel Helwani, suggested that the UFC needed to change the rules to impose harsher punishments on fighters who poke their opponents in the eye.

Former title challenger Jorge Masvidal even went as far as to suggest that fighters should have some of their pay cut if they commit an eye poke, while others claim that offenders should be immediately disqualified.

And Bisping agrees with this kind of sentiment, suggesting that if a fighter pokes their opponent in the eye, they should have a point deducted immediately.

“Yeah, if there is an eye poke, it should be 1 point immediately," Bisping told SPORTbible.

"You get your first warning in the dressing room, the referee comes in, explains the rules and warns you about your fingers pointing.

"The hands have to be open and pointing up and not level, which is a stupid rule, because if the fingers are pointing up, it's only a fraction of a second for them to change.

"When people are shooting into takedowns and stuff like that, that's when accidents happen."

Although Bisping clarified that he doesn't believe that eye pokes in recent months have been done intentionally, he believes such a strict rule would cut down on these accidents happening, as a 'relentless' outlook on the offence would force fighters to shut their hands.

He added: "I don't think anyone does it on purpose. I think it would be very difficult as a fighter, with two guys moving around, for one guy to go, 'Oh, I'm gonna poke you in the eye,' you're gonna miss most of the time.

"I personally would rather land a punch to someone's jaw than poke them in the eye, and I think most people would.

“It should be curved fingers at all times, and if the fingers are out, then it's one warning, and then the next time it's a point deduction. If you take points relentlessly, people will shut their hands.”