UFC 321: Tom Aspinall ‘still can’t see’ three days after eye poke in fight with Cyril Jean

Tom Aspinall is still suffering from loss of vision in his right eye three days after suffering an injury while defending his title at UFC 321, says the heavyweight champion’s father.

Cyril Jean accidentally punched the Briton in both eyes while attempting a punch late in the first round of Saturday’s main event in Abu Dhabi.

Aspinall was unable to continue and retained his belt as the fight was waved off as a no contest.

The 32-year-old was taken to hospital after the fight, and after returning to England visited an eye specialist in Manchester on Monday.

Andy Aspinall said in a video he posted on his son’s YouTube channel:, external “His right eye – he still can’t see anything. He said it’s just grey.

“His left eye is about 50%, so it’s really blurry and it’s still not working.”

The fighter will undergo additional tests this week and a CT scan “to see if the bones are OK, but they believe the bones are OK.”

Andy Aspinall added that eye pokes “happen a lot in mixed martial arts” and “something needs to be done in the sport to prevent this from happening.”

“It’s bad,” he said. “He could have lost his sight. He still can’t see in one eye, so we don’t know. We’re still waiting. Hopefully time will be a cure.”

UFC Fingerless Gloves The promotion introduced redesigned gloves in June 2024 in an effort to reduce eye pokes, cuts and hand injuries.

But in November they returned to the original style, which has not undergone a major redesign since it became mandatory in 1997.

When asked about the eye pokes in Saturday’s post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White said: “No matter what you do with the glove, it’s going to happen.”