Dana White gives worrying Tom Aspinall fight update as he approaches unwanted Jon Jones milestone

Dana White has cast doubt on Tom Aspinall's return to action as the UFC heavyweight champion approaches almost a year on the sidelines.

The 33-year-old has been out of action since Ciryl Gane poked him in both eyes at UFC 321, with Aspinall still not ready to return to the Octagon.

Although he returned to training in June, his manager Eddie Hearn recently revealed that the athletic commission remains unconvinced that the Englishman is medically fit to compete. It has even been suggested that Aspinall could be sidelined for the remainder of the calendar year as his agonising wait to return continues.

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Dana White gives worrying Tom Aspinall fight update

White insists the UFC heavyweight division "will keep rolling" even without the injured Aspinall, who has not fought since he clashed with Gane last October.

It had initially been hoped that Aspinall vs. Gane 2 would be a contender for the Madison Square Garden card in November, although that now looks highly unlikely with the Englishman still no closer to a return.

Speaking to the press following Tuesday night's Contender Series event, the UFC CEO was asked for an update on Aspinall's condition.

"No," he admitted. "I mean, Tom Aspinall is hurt, y'know, until we hear otherwise. So ... the heavyweight division will just keep rolling."

Speaking recently, promoter Hearn issued an update on Aspinall and reiterated that the decision lay with the authorities rather than the fighter.

"The only thing that we have to look at is when Tom Aspinall will be ready to return, and that's not when he will be ready to return from a mindset perspective," he told Bloody Elbow.

"That's from a commission perspective in terms of his injuries, which shows you what he has been through. If the commission won't let him fight, then you know how serious the injuries were.

"Not saying that's the case, but that's the position we need to get to for him to return to the [Octagon]. He's motivated, and I can't give you an exact date yet, but what I can tell you is he wants to get back in there as soon as he is physically able to do so."

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Tom Aspinall approaches unwanted Jon Jones milestone

It has been 319 days since Aspinall's first heavyweight title defence ended in disaster against Gane in Abu Dhabi.

Aspinall retained his belt after a no contest was called because of a nasty eye poke in what was supposed to be his crowning moment as a UFC fighter.

It means he is now just seven days away from reaching the unwanted milestone of being out injured longer than Jon Jones was following the injury he suffered in October 2023, which forced him out of his scheduled fight against Stipe Miocic at UFC 295.

It was nearly a year after Jones suffered the injury that White announced the rescheduled bout on September 14, 2024. That meant 328 days had passed between Jones suffering the injury and the announcement of his comeback fight.

Aspinall will surpass that unwanted mark on September 15, when he will reach 329 days of inactivity without returning to competition.

Jones actually waited 390 days between fights by the time the bout took place, another record Aspinall won't want to come close to beating as he awaits his return to action.

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