Jon Jones Taunts Tom Aspinall After Briton Vacates UFC Title Over Eye Injury

Q: With Aspinall vacating the title due to injury, will the UFC finally change its rules on devastating eye pokes?

Probably not immediately, but Aspinall’s case could intensify pressure for change. The key point is that UFC does not unilaterally write the sport’s rules. In North America, fouls such as eye pokes are governed mainly by state or tribal athletic commissions using the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts, which are maintained through the Association of Boxing Commissions. That means any broad rules change would require regulators, not just the promotion, to act. What the UFC can control more directly is equipment and officiating emphasis. That is where the strongest evidence for reform now sits. The promotion already tried new gloves in 2024 to reduce eye pokes, but the design was unpopular and was scrapped in early 2025. More recently, UFC executives reopened talks with Trevor Wittman about his curved glove design, which many fighters and observers believe better keeps fingers pointed downward and reduces accidental pokes. Dana White has confirmed the sides are talking again. Aspinall’s injury gives the issue a high-profile example of how severe the damage can be: multiple surgeries, infections, another training aggravation, and ultimately a vacant heavyweight title. That makes renewed pressure for better gloves, stricter enforcement, and faster point deductions more likely. But history suggests rule reform in MMA is slow. So the most realistic near-term outcome is not an immediate rewrite of eye-poke rules, but renewed movement on glove design and officiating standards.

3 articles · Updated · Yahoo Sports · Sep 15

Jon Jones backed social-media posts mocking Tom Aspinall after the British heavyweight vacated the UFC title on Monday because lingering eye damage left him unable to continue as champion.
Multiple surgeries failed to fully restore Aspinall’s vision after repeated eye pokes from Ciryl Gane in September 2025, and he then re-injured the same eye in training after agreeing to a comeback fight.
Jones, 39, replied “My sentiments exactly,” “Ouch,” and “Dude you are on fire” to posts claiming Aspinall never deserved the belt and avoided a rematch with Gane.
The reaction quickly drew pushback from fans, who cited Aspinall’s wins over Sergei Pavlovich, Curtis Blaydes and Alexander Volkov and accused Jones of wasting more than a year while refusing to fight him.
The exchange revives a long-running heavyweight dispute: Jones vacated the undisputed title in July 2025 after holding up the division, and Aspinall has now also relinquished the belt because of injury.