Dana White has insisted that Tom Aspinall is still “my heavyweight champion” amid his shock move to rival promoter Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom.
It was announced on Thursday than Briton Aspinall had joined Matchroom’s new talent agency, just weeks after Hearn lost star boxer Conor Benn to UFC president White’s Zuffa Boxing.
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The switch could be seen as a blow to White and his public feud with the British promoter, with Hearn now set to play a pivotal role in negotiations surrounding his return to the Octagon.
Aspinall’s UFC future had been up in the air since suffering a serious eye injury in his last title defence against Ciryl Gane, which he has since undergone multiple surgeries to treat, though White seemingly undermined the issue when stating that Aspinall “didn’t want to continue” in his UFC 321 post-fight press conference.
Tom Aspinall with his UFC heavyweight title (PA Wire)
But in an interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored, White attempted to play down any rift with Aspinall and quickly corrected Morgan’s error when he said the 32-year-old “was” his champion.
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“He is my heavyweight champion,” he said. “The company has talked to him. I haven’t talked to him. Tom and I obviously need to talk.
“Tom came out recently, his dad too, they felt like I had s*** on them in the way that I spoke about his eye injury, which was absolutely, positively not the case.
“Tom Aspinall is a guy that I respect. He’s great to work with. Never once did I question his injury or speak negatively about him. I said: ‘I think he is OK, I think he is going to be good.’ And they came out and said: ‘No, that’s not the case.’
“He said: ‘I haven’t talked to Dana, I don’t know why he would say that.’ But obviously my medical team is talking to him. That was what I thought.
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“They thought I had knocked him in some way which I absolutely, positively have not, and would not. I like him very much and respect him. I’ve never had a problem with Tom Aspinall.”
This interview was released just hours after Aspinall’s jump to Matchroom, though it appears that Morgan spoke to White before the latest development concerning the Brit.
White was nevertheless asked whether he believed Aspinall would fight again in the UFC, to which he replied: “I do.
Dana White believes Aspinall will fight in the UFC again (AFP via Getty Images)
“He is still dealing with whatever is going on with his eyes. In the past 30 years in this business I have seen injuries that I have questioned guys can come back from. And they always have. Including eye pokes.
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“If you ask me: ‘Do I think Tom Aspinall will fight again?’ I would say: ‘Yes.'”
The UFC president has since been probed about Aspinall aligning himself with Hearn, asserting that he doesn’t have “any issues” with the deal and drawing comparisons to his own fractured relationship with former fighter Tito Ortiz.
“We don’t have any issues with Eddie, they can get whoever they want to represent them,” White said, speaking at a press conference ahead of UFC 326 on Saturday.
“Tito Ortiz used to represent people but we got it done.”
