Chael Sonnen apologizes to Tom Aspinall over injury drama: 'We got this wrong'

It already seemed as if it couldn't get any worse for Tom Aspinall and his pursuit of an active UFC heavyweight championship reign. Then, complications from his lingering eye injuries led him to vacate the title .

Aspinall announced Monday on social media that he was giving up the title he originally won as an interim championship in November 2023. That same title later became undisputed when Jon Jones retired and relinquished his belt in June 2025. In Aspinall's first defense of the undisputed title in October 2025, he infamously fought to a first-round no-contest against Ciryl Gane after suffering multiple grisly eye-pokes .

Given how common eye-pokes have been throughout UFC history, the length of Aspinall's injury woes sparked widespread speculation on their legitimacy. Even pundits and UFC Hall of Famers like Chael Sonnen questioned what was going on with Aspinall.

After the saga reached the point of Aspinall giving up the title, Sonnen apologized to the now-former champion on Tuesday's edition of "The Ariel Helwani Show."

"I'm so sorry for what Tom Aspinall went through, and I even look back at some of my words and opinions that were clearly wrong. There is clearly a medical issue here," Sonnen told Uncrowned.

"We got this wrong. Guys get poked in the eye all the time, and they keep on fighting. Then, when the stakes were this big, we didn't know. We got it wrong, and I feel terrible for the guy. If there's any injury I could have, the last one I would want is something with my eyes.

"That's a very real life thing that can impact you. You've got to be very careful."

In Aspinall's absence, the man who infamously fouled him, Gane, claimed a newly-created interim title by defeating Alex Pereira at UFC Freedom 250 on the White House's South Lawn in June. The UFC has yet to make a public statement on whether or not Aspinall's decision automatically makes Gane the new undisputed heavyweight champion.

Regardless of how the divisional landscape shakes out, Sonnen expects Aspinall won't lose his seat atop the division once he's ready to return. Sonnen compared the situation to those of past champions like Georges St-Pierre, who gave up their titles mid-reign or at the peak of their powers.

"Tom's going to be back, and when he is, he's going to be in that exact same spot, right?" Sonnen said. "He's going to be fighting in a main event for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world. Things in his life are not going to change, so this is just purely a 'get-well, Tom.'

"I do think it was handled right. I do think that it was handled with grace, and I think that aside from the UFC doing it right, I think Tom did a tremendous job."

That brings us to what's next for the division.

Sonnen believes Gane's championship promotion is imminent. And waiting in the wings appears to be either a rematch with Pereira or a defense against surging contender Josh Hokit . However, the bad blood that's continued to fester between Hokit and Pereira since UFC Freedom 250 — Hokit defeated Derrick Lewis on the same White House card — has opened the door for that fight, said Sonnen, as well as fellow contender Alexander Volkov.

"[UFC is] goin g to elevate Ciryl. They've already got something in place for what they're going to do. The question becomes, who's going to fight Ciryl?" Sonnen said.

"I have a fear that Josh Hokit, who is trying to get the nod against Ciryl over the proverbial battle that he is having with Alex Pereira right now — I fear that Josh, on accident, by way of dismissing Alex, is inadvertently creating a massive fight against Alex. And you're going to have to bring Volkov in at some point, you're going to have to take the risk and do that match."

A fight between Gane and Volkov would be their third, with Gane holding a 2-0 lead in the series. The pair's rematch in December 2024, however, was a highly controversial split decision, which many argued should have gone in favor of the towering Russian. Gane won the first fight via a five-round unanimous decision in June 2021.

In total, Volkov has won six of his past seven bouts since 2022, except for that close Gane rematch.

In his perfect world, Sonnen would give Hokit the next crack at Gane, but he sees Volkov as a factor that could become hard to ignore in the conversation.

"You're going to have to pay an integrity to the rankings at some point," Sonnen said. "They're not going to be able to have Volkov win another fight, whoever that's against, and then not give him the chance. So Volkov is right there. Not to mention he was very competitive with Ciryl. I believe he beat Ciryl and lost the decision, so does Dana White and Hunter Campbell. So, at some point, there is a human element, not to mention he's got the ranking.

"Imagine a card where you're going to do Volkov and Ciryl, and a lot of people for the press conference go, 'Ah.' But on that same card, you put Hokit and Pereira. Now, all of a sudden, much like Arman Tsarukyan and [Mauricio] Ruffy came in to really help and support their own main event [at UFC 331], I think all of a sudden that makes a little bit of sense. Because if you don't do that, then you're going to have to do Volkov versus some form of a title shot one fight from now, and you might not have the coverage of Hokit-Pereira."