Michael Bisping knows better than anyone how difficult it can be to recover from a serious eye injury while participating in mixed martial arts.The former UFC middleweight champion underwent multiple eye surgeries after suffering a detached retina during a knockout loss to Vitor Belfort in 2013. Ultimately, “The Count” lost his sight and now wears a prosthesis in his right eye.
With reigning heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall announcing he will undergo surgery on both eyes after being poked by Ciryl Gane during their UFC 321 meeting, Bisping weighed in on the situation. Aspinall’s future is currently uncertain, with longtime UFC commentator Joe Rogan even speculating that the heavyweight king might never fight again.”Because I’ve had about five or six eye surgeries. I know a little bit about this,” Bisping said on YouTube. “…Tom will apparently need eye surgery. It will probably just be a little thing like realigning the tendons, but things can go wrong. Joe
[Rogan] is absolutely right, 100 percent, when he says things can go wrong.
“My retina was reattached after it was detached against Vitor Belfort and then it was detached again and then they fixed it again and then I got glaucoma. Because once you start messing with the eyes, in fact just like any part of your body, once you get in there and mess with it, it’s never the same. It’s never that strong and things can go wrong.”Aspinall was sidelined for more than a year as he waited for a title fight against Jon Jones. That fight never materialized, however, as Jones retired in June before re-entering the drug testing pool in hopes of fighting in the White House. As a result, Aspinall’s first fight since July 2024 took place last October against Gane.
Patience is essential
While Aspinall may be eager to prove the naysayers wrong and return to the Octagon, Bisping is warning his fellow Brit against rushing back.“The one thing you can’t do with one eye is running back,” Bisping said. “That’s the one big lesson I learned. Because I did. I rushed back too fast. I rushed back to sparring. I rushed back to competition and I never looked out of that eye again.”
“So Tom has to take his time. If he undergoes surgery, he will definitely be out for at least a few months. I hate to say it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we get an announcement for an interim title fight soon.”
Aspinall has also faced his fair share of criticism over the situation, with some in the MMA community – including some fighters – questioning the severity of the injury.
“Some people don’t know what they’re talking about,” Bisping said. “This is the heavyweight champion of the world. He’s not a duck. He’s not trying to get out of a fight. He wants to come back and beat Ciryl Gane. He recently put that in a tweet. The man is angry and I can’t wait for the comeback.”
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