Tom Aspinall lets feelings known about Michael Bisping after brutal UFC 321 eye poke fiasco: "He's done more than I would"

Tom Aspinall's first title defense at UFC 321 ended dramatically as a no-contest, and in the aftermath of that, he expressed high regard for former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping.

Aspinall faced Ciryl Gane in the main event last weekend. After a few minutes into the fight, Gane accidentally poked the Brit in the eyes. The referee, Jason Herzog, intervened and was forced to call off the fight.

In a video on his YouTube channel, Aspinall provided an update on the condition of his eyes and praised Bisping for his contributions to the sport with a damaged eye.

"It's not even stinging now, it's just painful. It feels like someone touched the back of my eyeball. It weren't that bad at first. Didn't feel that bad... It felt like it hit the back of the eye socket when he pushed it in. I just couldn't see... I really respect what Bisping's done. He's done more than I would. I won't carry on fighting with one eye. No chance."

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Check out Tom Aspinall's comments below (37:50):

In 2013, Bisping fought Vitor Belfort and lost by TKO due to a head kick followed by punches. The impact of the head kick also damaged the retina in one of his eyes.

Over time, the injury worsened, resulting in Bisping losing sight in that eye. Despite this setback, Bisping continued to fight and eventually became the UFC Middleweight Champion by defeating Luke Rockhold at UFC 199.

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Chael Sonnen believes Tom Aspinall could have continued at UFC 321

Tom Aspinall appeared to be distressed after suffering eye pokes at UFC 321 outing and reported that his vision was affected. However, Chael Sonnen noted that eye pokes are quite common in the sport and suggested that Aspinall, as the heavyweight champion, could have continued the fight.

In the post-fight show for UFC 321, Sonnen commented on the situation.

"Being poked in the eye is illegal Brendan, but to fight with one eye is very common. The opponent is trying to hit your eye; he’s trying to bust you up and make your nose bleed. So that part of it, it does have a question mark for guys like Anthony and I. We are trying to be polite. We are trying to show grace, but in all fairness, you’re the heavyweight champion of the world. You’ve got to fight with one eye at times." [H/t: Happy Punch on X]

Edited by Nilaav Gogoi