Joe Rogan is concerned that Tom Aspinall may never fight again following eye surgery.
UFC heavyweight champion Aspinall (15-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) revealed earlier this week that he could undergo surgery on both eyes after the disastrous ending to his fight against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 in October.
What was supposed to be a crowning moment, his first defense after being promoted from interim champion to undisputed titleholder, came to an abrupt halt when Gane poked Aspinall in both eyes late in the opening round of their main event bout in Abu Dhabi.
The fight was ruled a no contest, a frustrating outcome for Aspinall, who had spent much of the past two years on the sidelines awaiting a title unification bout against then-champion Jon Jones.
Just as the Tom Aspinall era appeared ready to begin, the British champion now faces another prolonged absence from competition, and UFC color commentator Joe Rogan has expressed concern that Aspinall may never fully get his career back on track.
“I mean, that's a disaster,” Rogan said on the latest episode of his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience. “I mean, Tom Aspinall still can't see. He's got a f***ed up right eyeball still. The reality is he might not ever fight again. Like, who knows? If he has surgery on his eye and it doesn't go well and he can't see out of the eye…apparently he's still f***ed up in his right eye. There's some tendon damage or something.”
Rogan compared Aspinall’s situation to that of Michael Bisping, who famously won the UFC middleweight title with only one functioning eye late in his career.
“You know, eyes are so tricky, you never know,” he said. “Unless you're a f***ing complete psychopath like Michael Bisping, who fought 11 fights in the UFC blind in one eye, which is so crazy that he did that.”
