Tom Aspenol has finally reached a breaking point and in this time his frustration isn't aimed at an opponent. It's aimed straight at the UFC. Do you have any updates about the eye of Tom Aspenol and is there a rematch in the works?
Oh Jesus, don't let me talk about Tom Aspenol's eye. Uh apparently he just he's going in for a second surgery or just had it or and by surgery I mean injections. I have no idea.
Get a quote from him. God [ __ ] forbid I say something about it. Go ahead.
Do you have any updates about the eye of Tom Aspenol and is there a rematch in the works? Oh Jesus. Don't let me talk about Tom Aspenol's eye.
Uh apparently he just he's going in for a second surgery or just had it or and by surgery I mean injections. I have no idea. Get a quote from him.
[clears throat] God forbid I say something about it. Go ahead. Dana Jeez.
How how close did you think you were to Here's your quote. Catching strays, aren't I? Catching strays in my own living room on a Sunday morning.
[laughter] After months of silence, patience, and professionalism, Tom Aspenol has publicly questioned how the promotion treats its fighters, especially when it comes to injuries, delays, and basic care. And suddenly, a lot of long-standing resentment within the MMA community has resurfaced. This all traces back to the eye injury that sidelined Aspenol, a moment that many fans felt was brushed aside far too quickly.
While Aspenol dealt with the fallout, The Division continued moving. Conversations shifted and accountability felt minimal. And for many, that moment became symbolic of a much bigger issue.
Here's my thought, and tell me what you think about this. The UFC gloves the way they are right now, why don't they cover the fingers? Why don't you have a glove where you have the padding on the knuckle, but that just have a layer of leather that goes over the fingers and goes behind the hand like this?
Almost like pride gloves a little bit, but over the fingers, but covering the fingertips. The problem is the fingertips going into the eyes. Like every time you see a poke, it's like one finger going into the eyeball.
But if you have it covered up, it would be different. Like it wouldn't be one poke going straight through. It would be a layer of leather.
But I tell you this, I've been fighting for 25 years. I've never poked anybody in the eye. Not even in training.
Eye pokes are probably the worst. I think when a guy gets eye poked, I think it should be a onepoint deduction no matter what one because you can't see. I would say that's probably the worst out of all these things.
You can speak to this. You got poked in the eye. I I know I've been poked in the eye, but I've poked a few dudes in the eye.
[laughter] I'm trying to stay out of this. Trying to figure out how I approach this. You going to come to me.
I was hoping you would look at an [laughter] It was really bad how it looks. and he said you you can't train your eyeball to be stronger. It is what it is.
Protection here and here, but he obviously got no protection because the fingers were straight in. The fight should have been stopped. He couldn't see.
It was a fowl. He couldn't see. Then you can't fight.
You know, if it have got knocked out [music] with the head kick next and it would have been worse. I don't know. And then he said sometimes when your eyes here like that, it can [music] become displaced and stay there.
And they did a few tests on that and they said it doesn't seem like that. And his vision on the eye that's the best eye, his eye wasn't following properly. So the muscles weren't working strong enough to go this way.
[music] This one just wasn't working that good at all. So we've got to have additional tests for this week and Moyes is sorting the tests out for us and he's got CTS. I just spoke to Pat Barry who's in the hospital right now.
You know, yesterday we spoke about Rose Damunas talking to the fans in a very emotional state. It was heartbreaking to see. Remember that video?
She's like openly sobbing. And uh shout out to the fans who were there to console [music] her, to make her feel better. It was it was part heartbreaking and and and part beautiful to watch in a way.
Anyway, right now as we speak, Rose is undergoing eye surgery, believe it or not. Uh, she was poked [music] multiple times in the eye. Uh, they actually just sent me a photo of one of [music] set pokes.
Here's one photo that we have. There you go. And yeah, I mean, again, this is this is the thing with these, like you said at home, you're like, "Okay, suck it [music] up.
" You know, Tom, suck it up. Well, guess what? Here's a photo of uh Rose heading into surgery as we speak.
You can see her eye, and you're about to see more. And he tells me that she has I'm going to try to get this right, a canalicular laceration, which is a break in the tear drainage system of the eyelid. Because this isn't just [music] about one injury, it's about a pattern.
Aspenol has spent over a year in limbo, acting as a backup, waiting on Jon Jones, staying ready while negotiations dragged on and plans stalled. Instead of clarity, he got uncertainty. Instead of activity, he got delays.
And now, even after the division finally moved forward toward a fight with Sirill Gain, the frustration hasn't gone away. Because from Aspenol's perspective, he did everything right. He stayed respectful.
He stayed ready. He stayed quiet. And yet, the situation dragged on for months while fans questioned his legitimacy, his activity, and even his toughness.
Would it be interesting if Tom came out and said, "No, I'm not going to rematch him. He's a cheater. Why would I rematch a guy that already cheated, that violated not one of my eyes, but both?
I gave him his chance. He chose to cheat. I'm going to move on.
If Tom took that stance, which he's not going to do, I'm saying, but for fun. Yeah, I think he'd have a lot of people that supported him. For some reason, Surreal has come out of this thing with his hands clean.
He's the one that did the poking. They've got to do something about these eye pokes. The rule is you you got to have your hands like this, but you can still have your fingers out straight.
You can't do that. You can do that. That's the stupidest rule I've ever seen in my life.
Make a fist. Simple as that. You're throwing punches and yeah, you got to parry shots, but you just got to unbend your fingers.
It's really not that hard. This is a stupid rule. Only Tom knows what happened.
Could he see? Couldn't he see? Could he continue?
I can't make people fight if they feel they've been injured. After the Jones fight, a lot of people wrote serial gone off. He looked damn good tonight.
I mean, he had Tom bloodied up and Tom didn't want to continue in the fight. The rematch is very [music] interesting. The best part about following, right, is that uh it works.
So, the best thing you can do like ahead game and I'll do everything I can manage. All that training for that. Yeah.
Trying to be okay, mate. What is he doing? The left one was really deep.
The left one was really deep. Sorry. Yeah.
Sorry. Twice before he got one for it. Mike, this been he lost his eye.
Just horrendous thing to think as a parent really. And I know what it's like these days with people saying what they want, but [music] it if it's just your son and they could lose an eye and their health and they've got children to look after, you know, something needs doing about it. No.
Yeah. Surrenderous for me to look at. Despite him stepping up repeatedly as the responsible champion, that's why his recent comments hit differently.
They weren't emotional outbursts. They weren't insults. They were calm, direct, and pointedly questioning why fighter health, eye injuries, and long layoffs are treated like inconveniences rather than serious problems that affect careers.
This has also reignited anger toward Dana White, whose blunt responses to injury concerns and fighter frustration have rubbed many fans the wrong way. To critics, it feels dismissive. To supporters, it's just [music] business.
A lot of people are talking about Tom, but he apparently still can't see. Here's the thing. The other eye got hurt as well, but not as bad, but it looks way worse.
your finger goes way deeper in the other eye. And you know, it's crazy that everyone that talks the most has never been poked in the eye. Not even a little bit, like accidentally.
Oh, it's horrible. The idea that you can't see and then you're supposed to fight a guy. It should be an instant onepoint deduction.
Think about Ana White saying Tom didn't continue. [music] Tom didn't didn't want to continue in the fight. So, and then also, who gives a to eye pokes?
Who gives a Well, listen, I didn't continue. I'll tell you why I didn't continue. Cuz I'm not a dummy.
Like I'm not going to go out there and fight one of the best strikers in the world if I can't see. I know as an MMA fighter, look, things are going to happen in the fight that compromise you. Go back and watch my fight with Arloski.
The end of the first round, he punched me right in the eyeball. Final 20 seconds of the first round. Oh, big fight from Arloski.
For the rest of that fight, I couldn't see him out the eye. [music] That's fine. If you get punched or kicked in the eye, that's fine.
If you get double eye poked in both eyes and you've got no vision because of a foul, why should [music] I carry on? So some dummy can look and say, "Oh yeah, Tom just got knocked out. " Because I ain't going to fight if I can't see anything because of a foul.
So they've announced this White House uh UFC fight. Can we expect to see you on the card? Uh I can't promise anyone anything, but I have very strong feeling that I'll be on that part.
I think it's going to be historic. But who who who would you take on? Who would be your dream opponent?
I would want to take on where the end of the year. Any possible names you think? Well, you know, I mean, as of right now, the champion is Tom Asin, but we'll see who's the champion at the end of the year.
The only thing to have a American life fight for the championship tonight. I'd be willing to put it all on the line. Nice.
He took the sleepy bite and then went running. And we have wasted so many [ __ ] months. And all of it for what?
For Jon Jones to eventually get to the point where the UFC were like, "Are you going to [ __ ] fight or not? " And he's put a [ __ ] tweet out to retire. That's what all of this was for a [ __ ] tweet.
Oh, at a press conference in Azaba. Jon Jones called us last night and retired. Jon Jones is officially retired.
Tom Aspenol is the heavyweight champion of the UFC. It's honestly a disgrace that this is how Tom Aspenol wins his heavyweight world title when Jones never beat anyone who was the champion either. Jones was never any more of a champion than Tom Aspenol was.
But for him to be announced as world champ like this, it's just not right. And when you look at the star that Tom Aspenol could be, the amount of fights he could have had in all of this time, and the fact that he's just patiently sat there and wasted months and over a year of his career in his prime, because Jon Jones might want to fight him, what a disaster this is. And I can't believe that it's taken the UFC this long to figure that out.
And I get it on the one on the one hand because they're trying to give the fans what they want. And also, who would have really believed that someone like Jon Jones would delay things this long and bottle it in such fashion? I mean, it's pathetic on his part.
But to be fair, Aspenol predicted it himself. So, I just wish that they hadn't Michael Chandler him this badly and kept them on ice. And inactivity is a terrible thing for fighters and I just hope that this doesn't impact Aspenol's career any more than it already has.
Because unlike Jon Jones, people can say what they want about Jon Jones as as a fighter, right? We we've all acknowledged he's a skilled fighter, but as a man, I think he's a piece of [ __ ] He got fingered two in the eyes that one of his fingers in his m Oh, like it was it was deep. Surreal gone was looking so good in that first round.
Tom Aspenol's nose was bleeding. Surreal was landing with that jab. Got a heavyweight.
go in there and a lot of the times a heavyweight you [music] see guys not really engage too much cuz it takes one punch especially from two big punches like that and uh Thomas kind of pushed like coming forward surely landing beautiful jabs circling around he won the he won that round both those guys for being heavyweight can move so well on their feet god that was going to be such a sweet fight be interested to see if he wins his next fight cuz what's the rumor sir Gan he's going supposedly there's a video that that hasn't gone viral But one of his losses, he was very much an adult. I believe already a black belt and he was taken down and the guy twisted his ankle. He had no defense.
He tapped so quickly. There was no I had a fight where I got arm barred and I was literally willing to let somebody break my arm before giving up. Does Vtor Bel for Tom the moment he felt any pressure on his ankle, he he he tapped immediately which lets me know a lot about him.
I guess the clarifying question then is if Dana and Hunter do come to you after this fight, they make the figures make sense to you, would you then be open to fighting Tom Asmin or are you categorically thinking, "He does nothing for me. I will not fight that guy. He does nothing for me.
He does nothing [music] for me. " Um, if you're a person that wants to see me really challenged, then I get it. 7 years younger, like 35 lbs bigger than me, right?
I get it. It's like, "Wow, this John's so good. we finally found someone way younger and way bigger than him.
Let's see how he does against that. I get that [music] narrative. But for me, if you were my manager, if you were on my team, why not fight against Pereira, a guy who's the same age as you, and we walk around the same exact size.
[snorts] Business-wise, it makes more sense. Fight the I I'm going to call him this. Fight the nobody that may be more dangerous or fight the guy with all the accolades who's incredibly dangerous.
but it actually will affect your legacy. But either way, the backlash is growing louder, and it's not just aspenol. Eye injuries continue to pile up across divisions.
Fighters lose months, sometimes years, while rules stay the same, and enforcement feels inconsistent. No real reform, no visible urgency, just another fighter sidelined. That's why Aspenol's comments matter.
Not because he's angry, but because he's respected. When someone this calm, this professional, and this patient finally speaks up, it signals that something deeper is wrong. And just for everyone wants to know as well, obviously uh you've been pretty clear in what [music] you've said.
Back to Sirill, but surgery now is the focus and then we'll uh we'll kick on to 2026, right? That's the plan. That's the plan.
But by the time this is going out, uh they probably have [music] had one surgery on one side already. Uh next surgery's coming mid January, so we're working towards getting back. And uh that's the plan.
Um, that is your heavyweight champion. That is one of the best and most popular fighters in the world. And the reaction is, geez, don't let me say anything about him.
Last I heard, he had a couple surgeries. Well, injections. Like the the whole thing felt dismissive.
The whole thing felt like he doesn't really believe it. If I'm being 100%, if I am to read his body language and he will a thousand% say that felt very dismissive. That felt like someone who didn't believe that his heavyweight champion was actually going through something.
Anyone feel otherwise? No, it was it was exactly that. It was.
And by surgeries, I mean injections. That that's like a direct shot. Yes.
Oh, God forbid I say something. Yeah. No, that's like flipping.
It was just if I'm Tom Aspenol sitting there, I'm like, man, what did I do to this guy? All I've done is stepped up to the plate and and I got poked in the freaking eye. And you think I want to get injections for fun?
Do you think Tom Asperol is injections or not, surgery or not? Do you think he's doing this for fun? And and the world has no idea how much his life has changed as a result of all of this.
Do you think he is doing this for fun? Do you think he's doing this to prove a point to all of you who thought he was faking? It's absurd to me.
He could have easily answered that question. Like to be honest, he's just working through things. Uh hopeful he'll be back, wishing him the best.
We'll be here when he's ready to come back. Like what? Why did it have to be that?
The guy that's currently ranked number 10 [music] is his friend Anthony Deijah. And he would vacate the title if Deijah got to a point where he was going to fight for the title. I hate that.
You know, Tom saying, "I'd vacate if he fought. " It's It's even silly to talk about that when [music] a guy's ranked at number two. Yeah.
But but I think because uh remember he said something before. Remember after and it was [ __ ] up Dana after the fight. Remember he was like he was Yeah.
Putting it down there like he didn't want to fight or something like that. Like he didn't want to fight. Like B said he quit, you know, and then Tom's like, "What the [ __ ] dude?
" So then now and Dana got a bunch of backlash from that. So that D's like, "Dude, I don't know. I'm not saying [ __ ] cuz I got so much [ __ ] last time.
" It was weird. He's like, "I guess he has surgery. By surgery, I mean injections.
" Yeah, that's kind [laughter] of the [ __ ] I'm with Tom. Like, what the [ __ ] Yeah. Hold on.
Hold on. Do Hey, Dana. Anybody?
Do you think Tom doesn't actually have a [ __ ] eye in Let me get this straight. You think Tom Asenol is babying this or making this? You know how stupid that sounds?
You think Tom's just wearing glasses and going through all this trouble for the [ __ ] of it? Literally the best heavyweight on the roster. Yeah.
You think Tom doesn't want to get back in there and fight? Make money. Make money, get an actual title, not this intern [ __ ] You think Tom Asenol's scared of Sir Gan?
Do you know what the [ __ ] Tom's going to do once his eyes get right? You know what the [ __ ] that guy's going to do to Sirill Gan? Anybody want to bet on it?
You know the amount of pain that dude's going to put on Sirill Gan? No, but Sir Gan was doing good in that 4 minutes that we saw him. Are you out your [ __ ] mind?
Fans are starting to ask whether the UFC's approach to fighter care is falling behind the reality of the sport. Tom Aspenol has never been about drama, but now whether he intended to or not, he's become the face of a growing conversation. And Tom Aspenol is a very good man in my opinion and I think I just hope he gets the treatment that he deserves for the remainder of his UFC career because this hasn't been good enough.
The one good thing to come out of this for Tom Aspenol other than the heavyweight title is kind of his aura. Now when the greatest of all time won't even step in a cage with you. It builds up who you are, right?
It you have that fear factor of the guy who everyone was scared of is scared of him. How [ __ ] good is Tom Aspenol? Very good is the answer.
And it's funny because in all of the posturing that John did in the tweeting and the and the interviews and I don't care. I don't want to fight him. doesn't do anything for all of that coping that we witnessed where he was trying to say everything he could to make himself feel better about not wanting to fight this guy and telling us all how unbothered he was in in fighting Tom Aspenol showed exactly how bothered he was because Jon Jones like you know even though he thinks he's smart he's a child right and he doesn't realize in in all of that coping we can read him like a [ __ ] book and all he's done is kind of promoted Tom Aspenol for an entire year in this tour that he's gone on in showing you're scared of mate and we [ __ ] know you are because actions speak louder than words.
And Jon Jones has moaned his entire career about fighter pay. He named his price. Dana White gave him it and said, "Yep, no problem.
" And he still turned down the fight. This is a man motivated by money. He never shuts up about it.
You got your biggest payday ever and you still haven't got balls. A lot of people are talking about Tom, but he apparently still can't see. Here's the thing.
The other eye got hurt as well, but not as bad, but it looks way worse. The finger goes way deeper in the other eye. And you know, it's crazy that everyone that talks the most has never been poked in the eye.
Not even a little bit, like accidentally. Oh, it's horrible. The idea that you can't see and then you're supposed to fight a guy, it should be an instant onepoint deduction.
Do you have any updates about the eye of Tom Aspenol? And is there a [music] rematch in the works? Oh, Jesus.
Don't let me talk about Tom Aspenol's eye. Uh, apparently he just he's going in for a second surgery or just had it or and by surgery I mean injections. I have no idea.
get a quote from him. God [ __ ] forbid I say something about it. Go ahead.
Do you have any updates about the eye of Tom Aspenol? And is there a rematch in the works? Oh Jesus.
Don't let me talk about Tom Aspenol's eye. Uh apparently he just he's going in for a second surgery or just had it or and by surgery I mean injections. I have no idea.
Get a quote from him. God forbid I say something about it. Go ahead.
Yeah. Jeez. How how close did you think you were to Here's your quote.
Catching strays, aren't I? Catching strays in my own living room on a Sunday morning. [laughter] And if nothing changes, this won't be the last time a top fighter publicly questions how much the UFC really cares.
