Mike Winkeljohn addresses mental aspect of Tom Aspinall's eye injury, how the ex-UFC champ can handle it
Mike Winkeljohn has weighed in on the debate about whether Tom Aspinall can psychologically recover from his eye injury ordeal.
Tom Aspinall has found support from several quarters of the MMA community as he continues working toward making a full recovery from his eye injury issues.
However, a number of skeptics have questioned whether he'd choose to return to the grueling sport of mixed martial arts after dealing with such a serious injury. Similarly, many fans and experts have expressed their concerns about whether the psychological aspect of the eye injury issues would adversely affect Aspinall if and when he returns to the Octagon.
Veteran MMA coach Mike Winkeljohn seems to be of the view that Aspinall could most definitely overcome the mental hurdles of the eye injury ordeal.
Tom Aspinall almost made a comeback this year before vacating the UFC heavyweight title
Tom Aspinall notched the interim UFC heavyweight belt by knocking out Sergei Pavlovich in 2023. The Englishman defended the interim belt by knocking out Curtis Blaydes in their rematch the following year, and he was promoted to undisputed champion status when then-champion Jon Jones vacated his title last year.
Aspinall's first fight as the undisputed UFC heavyweight kingpin ended in an NC (No Contest), owing to his being eye-poked by Ciryl Gane in the very first round. That was in October of last year.
In the meantime, Gane won an interim belt by knocking out former two-division UFC champion Alex Pereira in June. The ensuing months saw anticipation build for the long-awaited potential rematch between Aspinall and Gane, which would've been a title unifier.
Aspinall even indicated that he'd been cleared to train and was waiting for the UFC to finalize a date for their title unification matchup. Unfortunately, he suffered an eye injury in training and chose to vacate the heavyweight title, with Gane subsequently being promoted to UFC heavyweight champion status.
Mike Winkeljohn believes Tom Aspinall's intelligence and fighting prowess could help him overcome mental and physical challenges of the eye injury
During an appearance on Submission Radio hosted by Denis Shkuratov, MMA coach Mike Winkeljohn was asked about his star student Josh Hokit's imminent heavyweight title clash against Ciryl Gane that goes down at UFC 334.
Speaking of which, he also discussed former UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall. He implied that Aspinall's intelligence and fighting prowess could ensure that he's defensively deft enough to deal with the physical and psychological challenges of competing after having recovered from a scary injury.
Winkeljohn stated, "Oh, I think so. I think Tom is a great fighter. He's a go-getter. He's a guy that's -- once he feels he's got his vision back, he's -- a target's a target."
Winkeljohn appeared to suggest that eye pokes are illegal maneuvers anyway, and fighters mustn't have to worry about that. He indicated that no opponent should be trying to poke Aspinall in the eye.
He added, "They're trying to punch in the orbital. They're trying to punch in the nose. They're trying to hit you in the head. So it's already there, anyway. But Tom's got good head movement. He's a smart man. And I think he makes the best of it. He'll be back. There's no doubt about it."
Watch Mike Winkeljohn heap praise on Tom Aspinall below (*comments at the 2:00-minute mark of the video):
