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Eddie Hearn says Tom Aspinall still needs ‘additional testing’ on his eyes before fighting again

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20 hours ago

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Eddie Hearn says Tom Aspinall still needs ‘additional testing’ on his eyes before fighting again

Tom Aspinall is almost ready to return to fighting, but he still has to cross some Ts and dot some Is.

The UFC heavyweight champion has been out of action since October after suffering an eye injury during his title fight with Ciryl Gane at UFC 321. In his absence, Aspinall's relationship with the UFC has seemingly gone through some ups and downs, so much so that Aspinall recently felt the need to squash rumors about wanting out of his UFC deal. Those rumors appear to have stemmed in part from Aspinall's continued absence from the promotion, but his business manager, Eddie Hearn, explained what's going on.

“He's under contract,†Hearn told Bloody Elbow. “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; that's from a commission perspective in terms of his injuries. And that shows you what he has been through, because if the commission won't let him fight, you know how serious the injuries were. Not saying that's the case, but that's the position we need to get to in order for him to return to the ring.

“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.â€

As far as dates go, once Aspinall confirmed he was back to training, rumors flew about his return, with most of them suggesting a rematch with Gane might headline UFC 334 at Madison Square Garden in November. Hearn was unwilling to confirm those rumors, saying only that Aspinall wants to get back as soon as he's medically able.

“It all depends whether he'll be ready,†Hearn said. “He's training. I think he's gonna have to go through some additional testing to make sure he's good to return, but he wants to fight.

“He's making a lot of money. And you know what's unbelievable? Let me tell you how much money Tom Aspinall is doing — he won't mind me saying this. I had a deal for him, a six-figure deal where he had to do basically f*ck all, and he went, ‘Nah, I'll leave that one'. I'm like, ‘Oh my God, we have spoiled you'. [Laughs]

“He's a great guy, by the way. And if you look at his social numbers and the work those guys have done across YouTube and pods and stuff like that, he's making a lot of money. But he wants to fight. He's a fighter. So it's been very frustrating for him, but he'll be back.â€

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MMA

Gregory Rodrigues admits glove grab, denies cheating vs. Anthony Hernandez

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13 minutes ago

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September 3, 2026

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Gregory Rodrigues admits glove grab, denies cheating vs. Anthony Hernandez
Gregory
Rodrigues has dismissed Anthony
Hernandez's cheating claims.

Rodrigues recently defeated Hernandez by decision in a five-round
middleweight bout in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship, which earned Fight of the Night
honors. Hernandez later accused Rodrigues of grabbing his gloves
during grappling exchanges in the
UFC Sacramento headliner. Rodrigues, however, claims it was
inadvertent and had no bearing on the outcome.

Gregory Rodrigues says his glove grab against Anthony Hernandez
was inadvertent and had no impact on the fight

Rodrigues spoke to Sherdog about the cheating allegations that
emerged in the aftermath of his last bout. While ‘Robocop' admits
that he mistakenly grabbed Hernandez's glove in one instance in the
heat of the moment, he says he immediately let it go when his
opponent pointed it out.

“There was no cheating,†Rodrigues said. “It happened in the heat
of the moment while we were against the fence and as soon as he
pointed it out, I let go. It wasn't something that stopped a
takedown or had any decisive impact on the fight.â€

Rodrigues also claims Hernandez knows the incident did not affect
the result and noted that the two fighters later crossed paths,
even taking a photograph together. The Brazilian hopes to train
with the American as well.

“I have nothing but respect for this guy and I hope we can train
together again in the future,†Rodrigues added.

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MMA

Michael Page slams ‘entitlement issues’ among top UFC welterweights

Published

1 hour ago

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September 3, 2026

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Michael Page slams ‘entitlement issues’ among top UFC welterweights
Michael
Page grew tired of waiting around at welterweight.

The former Bellator
star recently explained his reasoning for accepting fights at
middleweight in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship ahead of his Octagon return
against Nursulton
Ruziboev at
UFC Paris.

Michael Page explains why UFC welterweight title-shot tactics
pushed him toward middleweight

Page is 4-1 in the UFC, with his lone defeat in the promotion
coming against the last challenger for the 170-pound title,
Ian
Garry. However, odd bookings followed the loss to Garry, with
the Englishman taking on middleweights Sharabutdin
Magomedov and Jared
Cannonier before dropping back down to welterweight to fight
unranked compatriot Sam
Patterson in a lackluster bout.

Page claims top-ranked welterweights would rather wait around for a
title shot than fight him, prompting the move back up to 185
pounds.

“Everyone at welterweight is, I’m trying to be polite here,†Page
said in a recent interview. “I feel like there’s too many people
wasting time at welterweight at the moment. Too many people with
entitlement issues… They believe that they should be the next in
line. And so, they’re going to wait and this and that. I don’t have
the patience for that.â€

Page acknowledged that winning a championship remains the ultimate
objective, but doesn’t believe fighters should be so calculated
about which matchups to accept.

“Everyone’s goal is the belt, but there’s no need to be this
tactical about it,†Page said. “And there’s like seven people being
tactical about it. It’s annoying. So, I just said, I’ll go the
tougher route and just move up a weight.â€

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MMA

Marlon Vera made difficult change to avoid one regret at end of UFC career

Published

3 hours ago

on

September 3, 2026

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Marlon Vera made difficult change to avoid one regret at end of UFC career
Marlon
Vera doesn't want to live with regret, but admits his coaching
change was a tough decision.

Vera (23-12-1) is scheduled to fight Charles
Jourdain (18-8) on Sept. 19 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
The former title challenger recently revealed that he is no longer
working with his longtime striking coach Jason Parillo. He claims
the split was amicable, but something had to change to halt his
losing streak in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Marlon Vera explains why he left Jason Parillo before UFC
331

Vera says it was hard to part ways with Parillo as they didn't have
any problems with each other since initially linking up in 2018.
“Chito†didn't want to get to the end of his career and wonder
whether it would’ve played out differently if he had made the
change.

“I was trying to figure out what I need, what is not getting me to
win these close decisions,†Vera told Ariel Helwani. “It was a
pretty hard decision because we didn't have a problem or nothing
bad happened. I was just like, what can I do moving forward to give
myself a chance to kill this bad streak? And I just told myself, ‘I
don't want my career to go to the very end and then question what
if I had made a change.'â€

Vera has now joined the team of fellow UFC bantamweight Raul Rosas
Jr. Vera's own gym is the base for the new team, with Rosas
Jr.'s father handling management. He has also brought back his old
wrestling and kickboxing coaches.

“Eventually, I kind of merged into Rosas Jr.'s team,†Vera added.
“And now we use my gym as headquarters for all of us… Right now,
his dad handles times and training. They already have a full team
— a kickboxing coach, a wrestling coach; both are from Russia. I
also brought back my old wrestling coach and kickboxing coach.â€

Vera is now looking to end a four-fight slump at UFC
331.

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