Alex Pereira has spoken out in defence of Tom Aspinall, after the UFC heavyweight champion underwent a second surgery on an eye injury.
Aspinall’s fighting future is up in the air as he continues to treat the injury, which was caused by multiple eye pokes from opponent Ciryl Gane in October. Britain’s Aspinall was defending the undisputed heavyweight title for the first time as he took on Gane, with their bout ending as a first-round no-contest courtesy of the Frenchman’s fouls.
And despite Aspinall releasing photographic evidence last week of the severity of his treatment, the 32-year-old continues to face criticism from some quarters.
Light-heavyweight champion Pereira has moved to defend Aspinall, though, while speaking on the YouTube channel of fellow Brazilian Valter Walker, who competes in Aspinall’s division.
“When the stoppage happened in the fight, he came out complaining,” Pereira said, translated from Portuguese. “[Some] didn’t believe him, others just trashed him.
“Look, I don’t mess around with health, man. I see it like: this guy’s a fighter, he’s not gonna fake something like that.
“But the guy is back now after surgery. I saw the photo that he posted. Man, his eye was all red, it even scared me a bit. The eye is really delicate, you know?”
With Aspinall’s next move unclear, some fans have called for an interim-title fight involving Gane, who previously held the interim belt. In fact, some have proposed a bout between Gane, 35, and Pereira, 38.
Pereira last fought in October, knocking out Magomed Ankalaev in 80 seconds to regain the light-heavyweight belt. And “Poatan”, who previously reigned at middleweight, has teased a heavyweight move in the past.
Pereira has mainly seemed keen on facing controversial UFC great Jon Jones, who held the heavyweight title from 2023 until last summer. Jones, 38, vacated the title upon retiring from MMA – with Aspinall elevated from interim champion – but has expressed a desire to fight at the White House on 14 June.
