Belal Muhammad feels for Tom Aspinall.
Ever since his heavyweight title fight against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 ended in a no contest due to an eye poke from the Frenchman, Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) has faced backlash from fans, fellow fighters, and critics, many of whom believe the Brit should have tried to continue fighting.
Now, former UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad (24-4 MMA, 15-4 UFC), who went through a similar experience after suffering an eye poke against Leon Edwards in 2021, has offered his support for Aspinall.
"Tom Aspinall, you're starting to feel what I felt," Muhammad said on his YouTube channel. "I've been there, bro. You get poked in the eye, it wasn't on you, the world, the fans, they're blaming you and word of advice, bro: stop caring.
"Stop caring what these people are saying. Stop trying to prove yourself. Because even with the proof that you're showing, going to the doctor, showing them you're getting your eye checked – I mean, a lot of the doctors are saying, 'It's nothing, it was this. You'll be fine, go back to the States. You'll be OK.' It's not really helping the case."
Muhammad’s own experience was a particularly difficult one as he had suffered with eye issues previously. When his bout against Edwards ended prematurely, “Remember the Name” thought his dreams of working toward a title shot had also gone up in smoke.
"When you have a finger in your eye and you can't see, and you can't open it – after the Leon fight, I couldn't open it for probably like 30 minutes," Muhammad said. "It was one of the hardest things. Then people were like, 'Oh man, you cried, you did this, you did that.' It was not moreso about pain in the eye or anything like that.
"I've had eye surgeries. I thought it was over with. When you have an eye surgery, the doctors will say, 'Ah, don't go back to the sport. Don't do this. Stay away from it.' So, for me, it was losing an opportunity. For my first main event, fighting No. 3 in the world, and it ended like that."
Muhammad bounced back from that catastrophic moment in fine style, going on an unbeaten streak before dominating Edwards when they fought again at UFC 304. The win saw him crowned the UFC welterweight champion, and he urged Aspinall to take a similar mindset from this experience.
"Tom, you just gotta stop caring," Muhammad said. "Stop caring what they're thinking, stop caring what they're saying, just embrace the boos. It's gonna happen now, bro. Welcome. I open up the door for you, bro. Come chill with me. We'll sit over here, we'll take these boos, but we're gonna win. Same way I used it as fuel, you use that as fuel.
"Next time you go in there with Ciryl, you felt his speed, you felt his power, now you gotta make him pay for everything you're going through now."
