Tom Aspinall Vacating the Belt Feels Wrong

Tom Aspinall is no longer the UFC heavyweight champion. Taking to Instagram, the Brit confirmed his choice to give up the belt due to 'ongoing complications' as a result of the eye injury that he suffered in his last UFC fight against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321.

There are plenty of questions that need to be asked about the Tom Aspinall situation, but the overall feeling is that vacating the belt now feels wrong.

Tom Aspinall Vacates

Ciryl Gane Benefits

Let's not forget Ciryl Gane, the interim champion, will likely now become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. The same Ciryl Gane who fouled Aspinall, inflicted life altering injuries on the eyes of the Brit and rendered him unable to continue in the fight. The same Ciryl Gane who has prevented Aspinall earning a living over the last year. It feels wrong.

Other Champions Influencing the Decision

It was fairly clear that Tom Aspinall had little intention to vacate the belt in recent months. The UFC had no intention to strip him as recently as June. This is evidenced in the fact that they created an interim title fight at UFC Freedom 250. If they had any intention of stripping Aspinall, they would have simply stripped him before that event and promoted an undisputed title fight, something that would have sold much better.

In recent weeks we've seen Valentina Shevchenko relinquish her flyweight title due to an injury that is going to keep her out for a prolonged period of time. It feels that this decision has directly influenced Tom Aspinall, likely with a push from the UFC heirarchy to relinquish his belt.

This is likely the case because we've seen the opposite with Carlos Ulberg. 'Black Jag' won the light heavyweight crown in April but during that fight, tore his ACL. This injury is going to keep him out until at least 2027, with a reuturn likely in the second quarter of the year. Ulberg hasn't been stripped, so why has Aspinall been encourged to do so.

There's no hard and fast rule, making it confusing for fans and fighters alike.

Uncertainty in the Division

Yet again, Aspinall vacating plunges the heavyweight division into uncertainty. We haven't had an unequivical, undeniable and truly undisputed UFC heavyweight champion since Francis Ngannou in 2021.

Since Ngannou beat Stipe Miocic and went on to defeat Gane, every UFC heavyweight champion has had an asterix next to their name.

Jon Jones became the undisputed champion after Ngannou relinquished the belt and left the UFC. The caveat to Jones holding the belt is that Ngannou never lost the belt, rather he left the promotion at the top. Would Jones have beaten Ngannou? Who knows.

Jones beat an old Stipe Miocic in a fight which never should have happened and then retired from the sport, allowing interim champion, Tom Aspinall to become undisputed. There have always been questions as to how an potential Jones/Aspinall match up may have played out, forcing an asterix next to Aspinall's name.

Now, with Gane likely becoming the undisputed champion, he has two key questions to answer. If Jones comes back, could he beat him? When Aspinall returns, could he beat Aspinall? 

It creates uncertainty in the division, which is never a good thing to have.