Months before UFC 321 and its eye-poke controversy, UFC CEO Dana White had hailed Tom Aspinall as one of the nastiest fighters in the world. To him, he was right there with the names like Mike Tyson. But recently, those praises, and their relationship, just might’ve turned sour. According to fellow Brit and former fighter Michael Bisping, there may be a few reasons for that.

“There was the whole thing with DC (Daniel Cormier)… He didn’t need to release that. So he kind of dropped the ball a little bit there,” Bisping told his co-host Paul Felder on their Believe You Me podcast. “And then his dad was talking about the boxing thing, ‘After this contract, we’re leaving,’ and I was like, ‘What are you doing? You don’t negotiate like that in public. You speak to men, man to man.’ I’m not speaking for the UFC. That’s just me sitting here.”

Since he was named the undisputed champion after Jon Jones’ sudden retirement, Aspinall has found himself in multiple discussions that might impact his relationship with Dana White in the future.

• Andy Aspinall, Tom’s father and coach, revealed that he doesn’t want the young Brit to re-sign with UFC once his 3-fight contract is up. Instead, he wishes the heavyweight champion to enter the boxing world for two reasons. Firstly, he wants Tom to retire from the MMA world healthy. Secondly, boxing’s bigger paychecks.
• Before his UFC 321 card, Daniel Cormier interviewed Aspinall. Once the cameras were shut down, the two had some personal exchanges. However, Aspinall chose to release them to the public, where DC was telling him how he could be onto something big if he won. Although not as damaging, Cormier was still not thrilled.
• He also denied fighting his friend, Ante Delija, for the title. Since making his debut, Delija has quickly risen to the top 10 in the UFC. Now, he would be just a few fights away from a title contention. But if Aspinall is still the title holder, he has stated that he would simply give up his title. Of course, White, who would want to see that fight, hasn’t been happy about the decision.

After the UFC 321 card, Dana White has simply mentioned that a rematch would be possible as soon as Tom Aspinall is cleared to fight again. But for the controversial anticlimactic ending to the much-anticipated event, the UFC CEO could only say, “I can’t make people fight. And you definitely can’t make somebody continue if they feel they’ve been injured. Only Tom knows what happened. You know, could he see, couldn’t he see, could he continue? Only he knows that.”

White has always avoided any conversation on the eye pokes and no-contest rules. Previously, he had simply claimed that if the refs start giving warnings and take away a point on subsequent eye pokes, the incidents will stop.

Nothing much has happened about it yet.

“It’s an issue if the UFC wants it to be an issue,” Andy Aspinall responded to White’s stance on eye pokes now. “There’s nothing we can do about it. But this has highlighted, at a high level in the sport, that this is dangerous. If they want to do something about it, they should. If they care about people, they should.”

But Bisping’s comments on how Aspinall’s defeat in UFC 321 could’ve reduced his chances of getting another fight echo a wider perception that the UFC will be more cautious about fully backing the Brit in future opportunities. Still, Andy’s concerns for his son’s future and financial security are, to some extent, understandable.

Michael Bisping backs Tom Aspinall’s stance despite fallout with UFC

Few people in the sport understand the dangers of an eye injury better than Michael Bisping. The former UFC middleweight champion permanently lost vision in one eye after a similar incident in 2013. Despite the diagnosis, Bisping continued to compete for years, later admitting that fighting with such a condition was one of the riskiest decisions of his career. With that experience in mind, The Count empathized with Tom Aspinall’s choice to stop fighting after the double eye poke against Ciryl Gane. While some fans criticized Aspinall for not continuing, others praised him for prioritizing his long-term health.

Addressing the debate, Bisping defended the heavyweight champion, saying, “‘Tom is the champion of the world and he doesn’t want to go out there when his vision is impaired or massively affected and potentially lose a fight that was shaping up to be a difficult fight. Ciryl Gane was on point. You saw the damage on Tom’s face. This was not an easy fight by any stretch of the imagination. He didn’t want to continue with his vision damaged or not being able to see. I don’t blame him.’”

Despite Bisping’s defense, Aspinall has become a target of criticism and mockery across social media, with fans divided over his decision. Do you think he should have continued after the eye poke, or was stepping back the right call? Share your thoughts below.