Josh Thomson alleges that UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall has been asked to vacate his title.
Aspinall, who most recently had double eye surgery, updated fans about the same via his socials. Since he went under the knife, he will likely be sidelined until next year, before he’s cleared to fight again.
Tom Aspinall’s journey so far as a champion in the UFC has been wobbly. The Brit captured the interim title in 2023, and strangely had to defend it once against Curtis Blaydes as then-undisputed heavyweight champ Jon Jones chose to fight Stipe Miocic instead of Aspinall.
In 2025, the UFC head honcho had promised fans a title unification bout between “Bones” and Aspinall, but ultimately, due to Jones’ unreliability and unwillingness, the fight never happened. “Bones” later vacated and retired in 2025, after which Aspinall was promoted as the new undisputed champion.
Later that year, at UFC 321, Aspinall locked horns with Ciryl Gane to defend his title, but the bout ended as a no-contest as the champion was poked in both eyes. With a hindered vision, the Brit was unable to continue fighting and retained his strap.
In the aftermath of the eye-poke incident, UFC CEO Dana White promised Tom Aspinall the best doctors and assured him that the promotion would bring him back to fight as soon as he recovers. White also promised a rematch between the Brit and the Frenchman.
However, the latest rumors suggest that Tom Aspinall has been asked to vacate.
Josh Thomson gives a concerning update on Tom Aspinall
In a recent video, Josh Thomson claimed that reports are out that the UFC has asked Tom Aspinall to vacate the heavyweight championship until he’s ready to fight again. The former UFC fighter alleges that Aspinall has responded by saying that he would be willing to do so as long as the promotion releases him.
“Reports are out that the UFC asked Tom Aspinall to vacate the title until he was ready to go, and he said he’ll be ready to vacate the title as long as they release him. Now that opens the door so he can go ahead and box. This is a really weird situation. The heavyweight division is just a total s**t show right now.”
Check out Josh Thomson’s comments below:
Tom Aspinall has previously made it clear that he won’t rush back to the octagon until his vision is 100%. That being said, if the Brit gets released by the UFC, he already has plans to transition to boxing.
Please note: At the time of writing this article, there is no official update that Tom Aspinall has been asked to vacate.