Tom Aspinall was not at UFC London in March, and his manager Eddie Hearn has explained why in terms that raise questions about how the UFC handled the situation.
Speaking with Ariel Helwani on Tuesday, Hearn revealed that Aspinall received a text message from UFC President Dana White at around 6pm on the day of the March 21 event asking if he wanted to attend. The problem was that Aspinall lives five hours away from London.
"He was very surprised that he never got an invite," Hearn said. "He got a text from Dana at about 6pm on the day of the fight saying, 'Would you like to come tonight?' And he lives five hours away. So, that wasn't ideal."
Hearn expressed genuine bafflement at the decision to hold a UK event without properly inviting the UFC's reigning heavyweight champion, who is himself British.
"I just find it baffling that you can do an event in the UK and not invite the heavyweight world champion, who is from the UK," Hearn said. "Let's be honest, it wasn't exactly a card for the huge names, was it? Tom Aspinall being there would've been great for the event."
Aspinall has been sidelined since suffering a double eye poke during his fight against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 in October, subsequently undergoing double eye surgery. He is still not fully cleared for contact training.
"I've not had a lot going on, just been back in the gym doing a bit of light training. I'm still waiting to get fully cleared for contact on my eye, but we are back in the gym doing a little bit," Aspinall said earlier this month.
Due to his extended absence, the UFC has created an interim heavyweight title, with Gane and Alex Pereira scheduled to fight for the secondary championship on June 14.
