New information has surfaced about Tom Aspinall’s eye surgery and where he stands medically.
The UFC interim heavyweight champion underwent double-eye surgery with Optegra Eye Healthcare, almost four months after suffering a pair of eye pokes in his title fight against Ciryl Gane. He lost the bout after being unable to continue due to the severity of the injury.
Aspinall hasn’t set a timeline for his return, leading to speculation that he could be stripped of his belt, though nothing official has been announced by the UFC.
His recovery appears to be going well, but there’s still no clear indication of when – or if – he’ll make it back to competition.
Tom Aspinall’s initial response to his double-eye surgery recalled
Tom Aspinall hasn’t responded well to some of the comments that have been made about his eye injuries in the aftermath of UFC 321.
An article from Uncrowned’s Petesy Carroll shared details that make it very easy to understand why he’d have an issue with people talking about what he’s going through.
Carroll, who accompanied the UFC heavyweight champion to his double-eye surgery earlier this week, wrote about the symptoms that the Brit’s still battling.
“Nearly four months later, the champ still can’t track moving targets,” he revealed. “His eyes hurt if he sends too many text messages. He gets vertigo if he changes directions suddenly. He misses people’s hands when he tries to shake them.
“He can no longer do the thing that’s given him an identity since he was a child. Hell, he struggles to do the most basic drills. Sometimes, he struggles to play with his kids. He has to ask people to drive him to most places he goes and ask those same people to bring him home afterward.”
The image Aspinall shared after his surgery was telling enough about the kind of intense procedure that he’d gone through after he chose to get both eyes treated at the same time to shorten the recovery process.
Aspinall’s immediate reaction back in March highlights how difficult this ordeal has been for him so far:
“I don’t know if I’d be able to do that again,” Carroll recalls Aspinall telling the room. “I could feel my eyeball being scraped the entire time I was in there, and I had to watch him do it.”
Tom Aspinall’s recovery from double-eye surgery expected to be lengthy
An article published by Uncrowned features quotes from Dr. Shafiq Rehman, who was set to perform the procedure and detailed that changes in Aspinall’s vision are among the key issues to address.
Outside of his field of vision narrowing, he has said that there is “a black spot” in one of his eyes that hasn’t gone away since he was poked by Gane last October.
Aspinall has stayed consistent on where he stands regarding a return to competition, keeping all of his focus on regaining full health before considering any comeback plans.
The Manchester-born fighter knows there’s no point in looking too far ahead when nothing can happen until his eyes are fully healed anyway. For now, it’s just about taking each day as it comes and letting the process unfold naturally.
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