Tom Aspinall, the current champion, continues to suffer from an eye ailment, which dealt a further blow to the UFC's heavyweight division.
Earlier this month, the Manchester native had surgery on both eyes in an attempt to address the consequences of Ciryl Gane's gouging of his eyes during their title fight at UFC 321 in Dubai last October. Because Aspinall was unable to see anything, the bout ended in a no contest.
Throughout the fight, which ended in the first round, Gane repeatedly jabbed Aspinall in the eyes. As is often the case with social media, the outcome of the fight was a plethora of anonymous critics who said that Aspinall was losing the Gane fight, that he was seeking for a way out, and that he ought to have persevered.
Uncertainty Regarding the Heavyweight Class
What was truly troubling After the bout, UFC CEO Dana White stated that Aspinall had decided not to fight on.
“Slightly disappointing, because he hadn’t spoke to me [when White made his comment after the fight],” Aspinall said on “The Ariel Helwani Show”. “[White] actually started giving updates that there was nothing wrong with my eyes when that isn’t the case right now … I feel I’ve done a lot for the UFC, so yeah, I am disappointment.”
Both Eye Surgery
This week, Petesy Carroll discussed his recent interactions with Aspinall and his physician on his Uncrowned podcast. Aspinall described a black spot that is always present in his eye. Due to a double vision problem, he experiences nausea and vertigo throughout training, particularly when performing footwork drills.
According to Carroll, who detailed the fighter's severe "visual field defects," Aspinall had to wait for his eyes to heal completely before undergoing surgery. Before he even begins to really consider a return to the Octagon, Aspinall is striving to restore some normalcy to his life.
Aspinall is still preferred.
Aspinall stated that he still enjoys martial arts, as Carroll noted. However, he detests the commercial aspect of it. It's unclear what will happen with the UFC's heavyweight division going forward. No. 7 Serghei Spivac vs. No. 9 Ante Delija at next Saturday's UFC Fight Night at Toyota Center in Houston is the only noteworthy UFC heavyweight bout till the end of March (no other fights have been advertised).
Even though Jones is still retired, Aspinall is -180 to win the men's UFC heavyweight title on December 31, 2026, at DraftKings, followed by Gane (+400) and Jon Jones (+500).
NBA Commissioner: There's an Issue
The NBA has a serious issue: clubs are ruining their seasons at a rate and quantity never seen before, all in an open attempt to secure the best draft spot for June of next year.
The Indiana Pacers and Utah Jazz were recently penalized $100,000 and $500,000, respectively, by the NBA for blatantly manipulating roster management.
Speaking at this weekend's Allstar events, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver stated that it's the worst in recent memory and that the league is collaborating with the Board of Governors and Competition Committee to take more action and "root out this type of conduct."With the 2019 draft predicted to be among the deepest in recent memory, taking away draft picks is a possibility. The integrity of the NBA's competition is at stake.
In the near future, today at 5 p.m. EST, the NBA Allstar Game will begin. The current outright winner odds at BetMGM are USA Stripes at +160 (20.5%, 16.6%), USA Stars at +200 (20.3%, 9.3%), and World at +155 (59.2% of tickets, 74.2% of handle).
Reurning to the UFC
At UFC 326, which takes place on March 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, there will be another lightweight division matchup between No. 3 ranked Charles Oliveira and No. 4 ranked Max Holloway, defending his BMF title. Justin Gaethje's victory over Paddy Pimblett in a memorable lightweight interim title bout at UFC 324 is still fresh in people's memories. This is a rematch of their first fight, which took place at a UFC Fight Night in Saskatoon, Canada, in 2015. Holloway prevailed via first-round TKO.
"Holloway is currently the betting favourite, at -200, at DraftKings, with Oliveira at +154. At FanDuel it’s Holloway -210, Oliveira +162. And at BetMGM odds are currently Holloway at -222, Oliveira at +165.
Favorite Holloway Betting
Oliveira recently defeated Mateusz Gamrot via submission in the second round of UFC Fight Night in Brazil on October 11. Sadly, his most noteworthy defeat was a devastating first-round knockout loss to current lightweight champion Ilia Topuria on June 28 at UFC 317 at T-Mobile Arena.
Nevertheless, this past week on YouTube, Holloway gave his next opponent a lot of praise.
“Oliveira? He’s just a killer,” he said. “Everyone knows about his jiu jitsu. His striking came a long way. If you see his finishes, a lot of the time it’s not Hail Mary submissions. He’s hurting them on the feet, then getting the submission. He’s a real mixed martial artist. Oliveira is dangerous everywhere.”
