British mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Tom Aspinall has announced he is vacating his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight title, according to infohub.kz.
The 33-year-old became undisputed heavyweight champion (up to 120.2 kg) after American Jon Jones retired in 2025. Aspinall had previously held the interim belt.
The Briton made his first defense of the undisputed title in October 2025. His bout with France's Ciryl Gane was ruled a no contest: after an eye poke, Aspinall was unable to continue.
Since then, the fighter has been recovering, a process that dragged on. Due to health problems, he has left the belt vacant.
"Because of ongoing vision problems, I cannot get medical clearance to compete. I have had several surgeries and an infection, but I did everything possible to return," Aspinall said.
He noted that he had previously agreed on a fight date, but in September he injured his eye again during sparring. Now the athlete does not know when he will be able to return to the octagon.
"I have now made the decision to vacate the heavyweight title. I asked the UFC to let me make this statement because I don't want to hold up the division. I know what it's like to have your career frozen, and I want other fighters to have the opportunity to compete for the title," Aspinall wrote.
The athlete emphasized that he continues to work on returning to the octagon as soon as possible, and thanked everyone for their support "during this absolutely nightmare of a time."
Thus, Gane will become the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion. The Frenchman won the interim belt in June by knocking out Brazil's Alex Pereira.