Dana White opens the door to stripping Tom Aspinall, eleven months after his last fight

Dana White has opened the door to stripping Tom Aspinall of the UFC heavyweight title. Asked on September 12 whether the champion should follow Valentina Shevchenko, who gave up her belt while injured, White said the UFC will “definitely be talking about that”. Aspinall has not fought since October 2025, and Ciryl Gane already holds the interim title.

Key takeaways

At the Zuffa Boxing press conference in Las Vegas on September 12, Dana White said the UFC will "definitely be talking about" Tom Aspinall's title situation.
Aspinall (15-3) has not fought since UFC 321 on October 25, 2025, when eye pokes from Ciryl Gane ended the fight as a no contest; he has since had surgery and is not yet cleared.
Gane (14-2) won the interim title by stopping Alex Pereira in June, and Shevchenko's decision to vacate her flyweight belt is the precedent White pointed to.

What Dana White said about Tom Aspinall

A question about Shevchenko

The subject came up at the press conference after Ryan Garcia’s win over Conor Benn at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, September 12. White was asked whether the UFC should handle Aspinall the way it handled Valentina Shevchenko, who vacated her women’s flyweight title after an injury left her facing a long recovery.

His answer was not a no. “We’ll definitely be talking about that,” White said, before adding that Shevchenko did not want to tie up her division and that he assumed Aspinall felt the same way. He also admitted he did not personally know where the champion stands health-wise, but said the situation should be cleared up soon.

A clear change in tone

Three days earlier, White had described the division as simply rolling on without its champion. This time he went further and named the option nobody at the UFC had mentioned out loud: the belt changing hands without a fight.

Why Tom Aspinall has been out for eleven months

One night, two eyes

Aspinall’s last fight was his first defense of the undisputed title, against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi on October 25, 2025. It ended in the first round as a no contest after Gane’s fingers went into his eyes. What looked like a short delay became a long recovery: Aspinall needed surgery and has still not been medically cleared to fight.

His team has pointed to a return before the end of 2026. Eddie Hearn, who now manages him, has said he hopes the clearance comes this year. Aspinall himself has repeatedly rejected talk of leaving the UFC.

The record behind the belt

Aspinall (15-3) built his claim to the title the hard way, with a run of early finishes that made him the division’s most feared champion in years. The frustration for the UFC is that the young, active champion it wanted has barely been able to defend.

We'll definitely be talking about that. It's one of those, like, Valentina doesn't want to tie up the division. And I'm assuming Tom feels the same way.
— Dana White, at the Zuffa Boxing press conference

What stripping Aspinall would change

The interim champion is already there

The heavyweight division does not need to invent a successor. Ciryl Gane (14-2) won the interim title in June at UFC Freedom 250 by stopping Alex Pereira, and he has made it clear he wants a unification fight with Aspinall. If the UFC removes the undisputed belt, Gane is the obvious man to be elevated.

That would not settle the division. Gane would inherit a title he never won from the champion, Pereira is already pushing for a rematch, and Aspinall would return, whenever he is cleared, as a former champion who never lost the belt in the cage.

The Shevchenko precedent

White’s reference point matters. Shevchenko stepped aside, and the vacant women’s flyweight title goes to Natalia Silva against Wang Cong at UFC 332 on October 3. The heavyweight case is different in one way: Aspinall has not said he wants to give up anything. Any decision now depends on the medical update White expects soon.

Follow the heavyweight title picture with real numbers

Tom Aspinall’s and Ciryl Gane’s full records and the current heavyweight rankings are in the FightHub app, updated as the title situation moves. Download it to follow the division before the UFC decides.