Alexander Volkanovski admitted he was revealing ‘too much information’ while opening up about his ongoing vision issues.
Eye injuries have been a hot topic in MMA since Tom Aspinall vs Ciryl Gane ended in a no-contest. The heavyweight champion was unable to continue fighting after being poked in both eyes during the first round of his fight with Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 in October.
Since then, Tom Aspinall has faced intense skepticism from fans and peers who have accused him of milking the injury.
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Alexander Volkanovski opens up about his eye injury
On Friday, Alexander Volkanovski defended Tom Aspinall from his critics in a YouTube video.
The UFC featherweight champion revealed he is dealing with a long-term eye injury while explaining how seemingly minor issues in the area can cause big problems.
“I think everyone’s being pretty harsh on him,” Volkanovski said about Aspinall.
“Eye stuff can mess with you quite a bit. A lot of people expect your eye to be falling out or something.
“Simple retina tears can be a big problem. My first fight with Diego Lopes [at UFC314 in April 2025], I had a few things going on. To be quite honest, I still have things playing up in my eye because of it.
“I’m lucky enough that it’s not too serious, but I’ve still got things that happen in my eye because of it.
“The knuckle went in the eye, not much in it. This stuff can mess with you. I still see flashes on the sides of my eyes. I’m giving you too much information here, but I’m still seeing flashes all the time.
A lot of people are just like, ‘Ah, it’s not falling out, and you can see again, it’s fine’. That’s not the case.
“You could have issues, and you could be one hit away from losing your vision.”
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Tom Aspinall’s road to recovery
Tom Aspinall recently underwent double eye surgery to mend the damage caused by Ciryl Gane.
It’s currently unclear when he’ll be able to defend his heavyweight belt. Alexander Volkanovski understands that the uncertainty is frustrating for fans, but insists you must put a fighter’s health first in these instances.
“Real doctors are gonna have a close look at it and wanna protect someone’s eye because they don’t want them to lose vision forever,” the 145lb great added.
“They are probably gonna have real protocols and be like, ‘No, you’re not fighting until we get this properly sorted’.
“That’s a very reasonable situation, and most likely the situation that is happening.
“So, I think I’m feeling for Tom a little bit there.”
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