Tom Aspinall isn’t too bothered that Ciryl Gane and Alex Pereira are competing for an interim heavyweight title in his absence.
The undisputed champion remains sidelined after undergoing double eye surgery to repair the damage done from a gruesome eye poke he suffered in his fight against Gane this past October. As a result, Aspinall is still awaiting clearance to get back in the cage again so he understands why the UFC booked an interim title fight at the upcoming card at the White House because there’s no chance Aspinall could have competed by June 14.
“I mean who else is going to fight though?” Aspinall said on YouTube. “Division’s on its ass. There’s not really many big fights to make is there? So got to do what they got to do.”
While Aspinall would surely love to settle the score with Gane after their initial encounter ended in a no-contest in the opening round due to the eye poke. But really Aspinall is just focused on getting healthy again and then returning to defend his title against whoever claims that interim belt.
Whether it’s Gane or Pereira next, Aspinall just wants to get cleared to fight again and then he’ll start focusing on the opponent.
“Just took in the information, Ciryl Gane/Alex Pereira, obviously I want to fight the winner of that,” Aspinall said. “So just waiting now to be given the green light, the all clear from the doctor to start training properly again.
“As soon as we can start training properly again, full contact in the gym we will be getting a fight date booked to fight the winner. So just waiting for the clearance, to be medically cleared now and then we go.”
This past week, Aspinall made waves after signing with Eddie Hearn for representation as he launched his own Matchroom Talent Agency.
Of course, Hearn is best known as the promoter behind Matchroom Boxing and he’s engaged in a very heated war of words with UFC CEO Dana White after he launched Zuffa Boxing back in January. Aspinall working with Hearn almost seemed like firing a shot at the UFC but the British born heavyweight insisted his motivation really came down to getting the most of his career before it’s over.
White also downplayed Aspinall signing with Hearn causing some kind of chaos when it comes to his return to the UFC once he’s healthy again.
Aspinall is confident when the time comes to fight again, he’ll speak to the UFC and he’ll face Gane or Pereira but for now he’s just focused on actually getting healthy enough to make his return.
“As soon as the doctor clears me, we’ll let the UFC know,” Aspinall said. “And we’ll be looking to book a fight as soon as possible.”
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