Connect with us

MMA

Tom Aspinall reflects on fan backlash to eye poke injuries, says eye surgery worse than vasectomy

Published

3 months ago

on

Tom Aspinall reflects on fan backlash to eye poke injuries, says eye surgery worse than vasectomy

Tom Aspinall was in serious pain after multiple eye surgeries — which are worse than any surgery he's ever had.

The UFC heavyweight champion hasn't competed since fighting Ciryl Gane to a no-contest at UFC 321 this past October after the bout was stopped following multiple eye pokes from Gane.

“I've had three [eye] surgeries,†Aspinall said. “I had one on the left and two on the right. By the way, I've had the snip, right? I've had a vasectomy, and I was thinking that has got to be the worst surgery ever. Mate, compared to eye surgery, it is nothing. Honestly.

“It's f*cking horrendous,†Aspinall continues. “So they kept me awake. I lay awake, they put something on to keep your eyeball open… and obviously, they numb it and stuff. They numb your eye. They did drops and then an injection on the side. Mate, they're coming at you with like a scalpel or knife, or whatever it's called and you're just watching them slice your eyeball open. It was horrendous.â€

Aspinall captured the interim heavyweight title with a 69 second knockout of Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 in November 2023. He went on the defend that title, stopping Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 in July 2024 in a minute, and was then promoted to undisputed champ after Jon Jones notified the UFC of his retirement 11 months later.

Following the fight with Gane — who is now the interim heavyweight champ after finishing Alex Pereira at UFC White House — Aspinall faced a heap of backlash from the fanbase for taking an easy way out of the fight. When asked if he was scared he'd never be able to see again, Aspinall responded honestly, and tied in the fan reaction to describe the very rarely talked about difficulties of being a high-level MMA fighter.

“At first, I was super scared about it, to be honest,†Aspinall explained. “Especially like the first two weeks. Yeah, I was really scared about it. …

“This is something that I've learned to understand the hard way: When you're fighting somebody, you're just Saturday night entertainment. That's it. If you're not in that fight, then people are going to root against you, and that's the way it is. It's shit. It's a bad situation. But I can't expect millions of people to care for me personally. They want to see me have a fight with somebody. That's what they paid for. And it's shit, and it's harsh, and it's not very nice, but that's what it is.

“I still get comments like, ‘Oh he f*cking ducked out of the fight, he didn't want to be there' and stuff like that, but a lot of MMA fans have also never had a fight in their life, and I don't expect them to understand what it takes to get to where I've got to. It's just as simple as that, and you don't see many fighters coming out and saying it. It's always people who have never had a fight. If you're going to sit behind your phone and comment on the toughness of a professional MMA fighter, then you don't really know what you're talking about.â€

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

MMA

16-0 Farid Basharat confirms UFC exit after seven straight wins

Published

7 hours ago

on

October 31, 2026

By

16-0 Farid Basharat confirms UFC exit after seven straight wins
Farid
Basharat has addressed his departure from the
Ultimate Fighting Championship in a statement on social
media.

Basharat (16-0) completed his contract with a victory over John Garza
in July and wasn't offered a new deal despite going unbeaten in the
promotion. In his statement, Basharat reflected on his UFC tenure
and questioned the organization's direction.

Farid Basharat says the UFC never offered a new contract after
his unbeaten seven-fight run

Basharat went 7-0 in the UFC after earning a contract on
Dana White's Contender Series, with six of those victories
coming by decision. He confirmed his departure on Instagram, saying
he competed under unfavorable circumstances and never declined a
fight.

“The news is confirmed, I am no longer with the UFC,†Basharat
wrote on Instagram. “I've had an incredibly successful time in the
organization. I'm proud and happy with what I've accomplished
inside the Octagon. I leave with a stainless record. Holding the
longest active win streak in my weight division and the fourth
longest in the entire UFC. I feel I'm the best bantamweight in the
world. I always turned up and fought regardless of injuries and
weight deficits. And I always asked for the toughest opponent to
get me closer to the title.â€

While grateful for his time with the promotion and its staff,
Basharat questioned the UFC's direction and said he had not
received a contract offer since his last bout.

“But my departure clearly has nothing to do with my fighting
capabilities,†Basharat added. “Unfortunately, the organization
just isn't what it used to be. They're heading in a different
direction from what we all grew up loving. I want to clarify that
since my last fight, I was never offered a contract or an opponent;
I waited, but it never came. I've certainly never declined a fight
during my whole tenure.â€

Continue Reading

MMA

Canelo vs. Mbilli video: Bek Nurmaganbet knocks out Marcos Vazquez in violent fashion

Published

8 hours ago

on

October 31, 2026

By

Canelo vs. Mbilli video: Bek Nurmaganbet knocks out Marcos Vazquez in violent fashion

Bek Nurmaganbet Bek Nurmaganbet certainly packs a punch.

Nurmaganbet knocked out Marcos Vazquez with a devasting combo at the 2:57 mark of the first round on the Canelo vs. Mbilli undercard at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday afternoon.

For Nurmaganbet, it was another impressive showing. He also knocked down Vazquez earlier in the first round before the impressive finishing sequence.

With the win, Nurmaganbet improves to 16-0 with the 14th knockout of his career. He has knocked out his past 12 opponents.

Vazquez drops to 21-4-1 with the defeat. He has lost four of his past five fights.

Continue Reading

MMA

UFC Vegas 123 ‘Moicano vs. Nolan’ play-by-play, results & round scoring

Published

19 hours ago

on

October 31, 2026

By

UFC Vegas 123 ‘Moicano vs. Nolan’ play-by-play, results & round scoring

Sherdog’s live
UFC Vegas 123 coverage will begin Saturday at 5 p.m. ET. The
event is also known as
UFC Fight Night 292.

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 4

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 5

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Continue Reading
Advertisement

OUR NEWSLETTER

Subscribe Us To Receive Our Latest News Directly In Your Inbox!

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

Trending