Retired UFC veteran, Josh Thomson, claims UFC asked heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall to vacate the 265-pound title while he recovers from double eye surgery, a procedure that is expected to repair the damage suffered against Ciryl Gane in the UFC 321 main event last year in Abu Dhabi.
Thomson also claims Aspinall agreed to vacate the strap if UFC granted him an unconditional release.
“The reports are out that UFC asked Tom Aspinall to vacate the title until he was ready to go,” Thomson said. “He said he’d be willing to vacate the title, so long as they released 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 sh*t show right now. and it’s been a sh*t show since Jon Jones coming in, not wanting to fight. You know, the interim champion, which was Tom Aspinall at the time, and then fighting Stipe, no disrespect to Stipe, you know, but it was just, Jon had something in mind, and the UFC didn’t squash that. They allowed that fight to happen, and it just led into this thing where the heavyweight division’s been on hold since the Jon Jones debacle.”
I’m not sure what “reports” Thomson is referring to outside of the lone Twitter troll who may have duped the former Strikeforce champion. Aspinall has yet to respond to the rumor hut longtime MMA reporter Peter Carroll swiftly shut down any talk of Aspinall surrendering his crown.
“This is not true,” Carroll wrote on X. “No one has contacted Tom Aspinall or his team about vacating his title or being exiled from the roster. Seems like that would be important in terms of a mutual agreement.”
Someone might want to share that update with Thomson.
“Bottom line is, Jailton Almeida is gone, they just released him,” Thomson continued. “Tom Aspinall, if he is gone, Jon Jones doesn’t seem like he’s coming back, especially not to the heavyweight division. We have a mess. We have a disaster on our hands. The heavyweight division and the 205-pound division, the light heavyweight division, both weight classes, are the worst they’ve ever been. And these used to be the pillars. This used to be what would carry the promotion. When the merger of Strikeforce and the UFC happened, the heavyweight division was the strongest it had ever been. And the light heavyweight division, honestly, UFC was built off the light heavyweight division. This is wild to me, man. The 135, 145, 155, and 170 right now are carrying the sport of MMA and definitely carrying the UFC. More to come.“
No timetable has been established for Aspinall’s return but you can expect to hear from the champ on this situation sooner, rather than later.
