UFC brass are set to weigh up whether to strip Tom Aspinall of his heavyweight title.
That's according to the man himself, UFC CEO Dana White, who has said he hopes to clear up where his heavyweight champion stands in terms of a fighting return 'soon.'
Aspinall hasn't fought since October 2025, when he put his undisputed belt on the line for the first time against Ciryl Gane in Abu Dhabi.
The Briton entered the fight following a 15-month hiatus due to back-and-forth talks over a mega-fight against two-weight UFC champion Jon Jones resulting in the latter retiring.
He was a big favourite to beat Gane, but the main event was ruled a no contest when the Frenchman inflicted a nasty double eye poke on the champion, leaving him unable to continue.
Aspinall has since been on a long road to recovery that consisted of a traumatic bilateral Brown's syndrome diagnosis and double eye surgery, which has changed his whole perspective on the fight game.
Despite revealing in July that he was ready and waiting for the UFC to give him a date and opponent for his return, a schedule for Aspinall's next fight is still unknown.
This has sparked fears among fans who believe Aspinall risks being stripped of his heavyweight title if he isn't ready to come back soon, just like longtime champion Valentina Shevchenko, who vacated her flyweight belt earlier this month due to injury.
White to consider stripping Aspinall
Speaking after a Noche UFC and Ryan Garcia vs Conor Benn doubleheader this weekend, the situation was put to White.
"We'll definitely be talking about that," White responded when asked about 'internal conversations' regarding stripping Aspinall.
"It's one of those things â Valentina doesn't want to tie up the division.
"And I'm assuming Tom feels the same way. I don't know personally where he is health-wise with everything.
"But we should clear that up soon."
White's worrying comments come only a few days after he said Aspinall was still 'hurt'.
"Until we hear differently, the heavyweight division will keep rolling," he admitted.
However, White may not be as well-informed as you'd think, given his initial diagnosis of Aspinall's post-UFC 321 injuries was that he'd suffered 'no damage to the eye,' which rightly left the champion 'very disappointed.'
Nonetheless, there is a real chance Aspinall could lose his heavyweight belt if further medical assessments result in him being told to stay out for the rest of this year.
A rematch with Gane, who knocked out Alex Pereira at the UFC's White House show in June, is the fight most are expecting to come next.
But Gane, the interim heavyweight champion, may get the chance to fight for the undisputed belt against someone else if Aspinall gets stripped or vacates.
talkSPORT.com has collectively voted on the best fighters to form a regularly updated UFC pound-for-pound (P4P) rankings system for the rest of 2026 and beyond.
Our P4P list will be updated regularly based on performances in the Octagon â with wins, records, title wins and defences, calibre of opponents, methods of victory and much more all determining who makes it.
UFC champions Islam Makhachev, Tom Aspinall and Sean Strickland feature - but big stars such as Alex Pereira and Arman Tsarukyan miss out.