Tom Aspinall has been diagnosed with a rare condition in both eyes and is not yet clear to return to action – more than a month after sustaining the injury during his heavyweight title defence at UFC 321.
French opponent Ciryl Gane accidentally poked the Briton in both eyes while attempting a punch late in the first round of their bout in Abu Dhabi on 25 October.
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Aspinall, 32, was unable to continue and retained his belt as the fight was waved off as a no-contest.
A medical report, posted by Aspinall on his Instagram account, shows he has been diagnosed with “significant traumatic bilateral Brown’s syndrome” and still suffering from “persistent” double vision.
Brown’s syndrome is a condition where the eye cannot move upwards, particularly when looking inward.
He also has reduced eye motility, visual function and substantial field loss.
Specialist treatment is ongoing and Aspinall “not yet medically cleared for combat activity”.
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“Depending on clinical progression, targeted periocular [surrounding the eyeball] steroid injections or surgical intervention to address persistent motility [movement] impairment may be required if symptoms fail to resolve,” said the report.
In his post on Instagram, Aspinall thanked fans for their continued “love, support & memes” and said he would give further information on Sunday night on his YouTube channel.
Earlier in November, veteran MMA referee Herb Dean said officials will look to more regularly enforce point deductions for eye pokes after the Aspinall incident.
Referee Jason Herzog elected to call the fight a no-contest, rather than disqualify Gane, 35, for the foul.
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Calling the fight a no-contest meant he deemed the foul accidental rather than intentional.
A disqualification would have gone down as a win for Aspinall.
UFC gloves are fingerless and the promotion introduced redesigned gloves in June 2024 in an effort to reduce eye pokes, cuts and hand injuries.
But in November 2024 they reverted back to the original style, which had not had a major redesign since becoming mandatory in 1997.
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