More than a month after suffering an injury while defending his interim heavyweight title at UFC 321, British fighter Tom Aspinall still has not been cleared to return to training. Near the end of the first round, Ciryl Gane accidentally poked both of Aspinall’s eyes while attempting a strike, causing the fight to be stopped and ruled a no-contest. Aspinall retained his belt, but the damage turned out to be far more serious than initially thought.
According to the medical report Aspinall shared on Instagram, he has been diagnosed with a “significant traumatic bilateral Brown syndrome,” a rare condition that causes persistent double vision and severely limits upward eye movement, especially when looking inward. The report notes reduced eye mobility, impaired visual function, and a dramatically narrowed field of vision. Because of this, he has not been medically cleared for any combat activity.
“At the moment I’m not training in the gym, I’m not doing anything related to MMA. I’m just following the doctor’s orders and seeing what happens with my health,” Aspinall said on his YouTube channel, admitting that surgery may be required. Depending on how the condition progresses, he may need periocular steroid injections or even surgery to correct the mobility impairment.
Aspinall also revealed that he has not heard from Gane since the incident. Even so, he remains determined to face him again once he’s fully recovered: “Of course I really want to come back and beat this guy up. But I need to be 100 percent ready. So when my eyes are ready, that’s when it will happen.”
Following the controversial eye poke, veteran referee Herb Dean stated that officials intend to enforce stricter penalties for eye pokes going forward. In this case, referee Jason Herzog ruled the foul accidental and declared the fight a no-contest rather than disqualifying Gane, which would have awarded Aspinall the win.
