Michael Bisping shares grim outlook for Tom Aspinall after eye surgery: ‘You can’t rush back’

One-eyed fighter Michael Bisping is offering his outlook on the Tom Aspinall situation, and it’s not sounding good for the UFC heavyweight champion in the short run.

Aspinall was badly poked in both eyes by Ciryl Gane back in October 2025, and recently revealed that he’s undergoing multiple surgeries to deal with Brown syndrome. Joe Rogan suggested Tom might never fight again … but let’s be honest: Rogan says a lot of things and it’s always good to fact check him. That’s why a new video from Michael Bisping is so interesting. “The Count” fought with an injured eye and knows exactly how wrong things can go if you don’t follow the doctor’s instructions.

“It was ten, eleven, twelve fights, I don’t know how many fights it was with one eye, but it was definitely a lot,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “Because I had about five or six eye surgeries, I do know a little bit about this.”

“My retina was re-attached after it was detached against Vitor Belfort,” he continued. “And then it re-detached, and then [doctors] fixed it again. And then I got glaucoma because once you start messing around with the eyes … it’s never the same again. It’s never quite as strong, and things can go wrong.”

Despite impressive advances in medical treatment for eyes, Bisping still lost the vision in one eye.

“[The eye] wasn’t saved by medical science,” he said. “They did their best, but, ultimately, I did go blind. But for Tom, fingers crossed, he’ll be okay.”

“He wants to come back. The man’s pissed off, and I can’t wait for the comeback. However, and this is the big however, will he need surgery? Has he had surgery? Does he need surgery? Will he need another surgery? Will there be complications? The one thing you can’t do with an eye is rush back. That is the one big lesson that I learned because I did that. I rushed back too soon. I rushed back to sparring. I rushed back to competition. Right? And I never saw that eye again. So Tom has got to take his time. And if he’s having surgery, he’s definitely gonna be out for at least a few months.”

In a video released over the holidays, Aspinall revealed that he had one eye surgery between Christmas and New Years and would have a second eye surgery in mid-January. For those who think minor eye surgery won’t slow things down too much, here’s a reality check from Bisping.

“I remember when I had my surgeries, afterwards they told me not to do anything that could even get my heart rate up,” he said. “I couldn’t work out. In fact, when I got glaucoma, it’s because I went for a walk. I went for a walk with the dogs. It was up an incline. That raised my blood pressure too much. It got my heart pumping a little bit, and that’s what caused the onset of the glaucoma.”

“So if Tom’s gonna have surgery, he’s got to take it very, very easy and not rush back to competition, sparring, anything like that. Certainly not fighting against the best heavyweights on the planet in four ounce gloves.”

That’s bad news for Tom Aspinall fans, but there may be a silver lining: there are whispers that Alex Pereira is prepping to move to heavyweight, and he could fill this Aspinall sized hole in the division.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if coming up very soon we have an announcement of an interim title fight,” Bisping said. “Which will be crazy because Tom was just the interim champion. He was the longest reigning interim champion in the history of the organization. If he does need surgery, they are gonna do an interim title fight, which leads me on to my guess, which is probably gonna be Ciryl Gane vs. Alex ‘Poatan’ Pereira.”

“Alex Pereira versus Cyril Gane, that is my call,” he concluded. “That is my prediction for the new year. I didn’t think we’d be talking about this anytime soon, but I do think it’s probably gonna happen. That is, if Tom does have to have another surgery. Because if he does, you can’t rush back.”