Aspinall must ‘ignore’ noise after eye surgery – Bisping

Michael Bisping has urged Tom Aspinall to try and “ignore” all the noise around his UFC career after the heavyweight champion underwent double eye surgery last week.

Aspinall has been dealing with eye problems since his title fight with Ciryl Gane last October had to be stopped because of repeated eye pokes.

The Briton has been dealing with double vision, black spots and vertigo since the fight and rumours on social media suggested he had been asked to vacate his UFC title.

Bisping, who lost vision in one of his eyes during his MMA career, said those rumours were false and sympathised with Aspinall’s frustrations.

“I understand that he’s going through a lot right now,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel.

Aspinall spoke publicly about his frustrations to Yahoo, saying he loves MMA but “hates the business” and believes “fighters are just completely replaceable”.

The Englishman has been the stand-out performer in the UFC’s heavyweight division in recent years, with seven of his eight wins ending in the first round.

Aspinall has given no timeframe for his return to fighting as he waits to see if the surgery will correct his vision, but he could have another operation later this year if needed.

Aspinall spent 19 months as interim UFC champion before Jon Jones retired and his first defence as full champion ended in the first round against Gane and was declared a no-contest.

Bisping became the UK’s first UFC champion three years after becoming legally blind in one eye.

The now retired fighter thinks the UFC may well look to move the division forward without Aspinall as he continues to recover.

“If Tom is on the sidelines right now and Jon Jones is actually retired because of all the arthritis in his hips, Alex Pereira, the next guy, is the most logical guy,” he said.

“This is the world that we live in. The show must go on.