Tom Aspinall vacates the UFC heavyweight title

The Salford heavyweight says ongoing eye complications mean he cannot get medical clearance to fight, and that he does not want to hold up the division. He says he is not retiring.

Tom Aspinall has vacated the UFC heavyweight title, announcing the decision himself in a post on his own Instagram account.

Aspinall said ongoing complications with his eyes mean he cannot currently obtain the medical clearance he needs to fight. He described a sequence of surgeries, accidents and infections, and said that after agreeing a fight date and resuming sparring he suffered further damage to his right eye in an accident.

The complications followed his UFC 321 bout with Ciryl Gane in Abu Dhabi on 25 October 2025, which ended as a no contest after an accidental eye poke left Aspinall unable to continue.

He said he gave up the belt because he did not want to hold up the heavyweight division, and wanted other fighters to have the chance to compete for it. He said his return timeline is unclear, but that he is not retiring and intends to fight again when he is medically able.

What remains unconfirmed: several outlets have described Ciryl Gane as the current or likely undisputed champion, but we could not locate a UFC announcement formally elevating him. Aspinall's own statement confirms only that he has vacated. Until the promotion says otherwise, we are recording the heavyweight title as vacant rather than naming a champion.

Our rankings page reflects that: the heavyweight division is listed with the title vacant, and Aspinall is marked as a former champion rather than removed.