Tom Aspinall detractors blasted by prominent MMA heavyweight champion post-UFC 321

Tom Aspinall has drawn criticisms from some in combat sports circles for the last couple of months, and a notable heavyweight champ in mixed martial arts has weighed in with his thoughts on eye poke gate. As Fleury continues to build his legacy as a heavyweight champion in mixed martial arts with a first-round stoppage of former Oktagon MMA heavyweight champ and UFC vet Martin Buday, he stands tall heading into 2026 after the dust just settled on Oktagon 81.

Fleury has also previously found himself calling out other champions in the sport with a previous call out of KSW titleholder Phil De Fries transpiring earlier this year. De Fries is also notably part of that Tom Aspinall team. With some fans and fighters alike saying some less-than-kind things about the Tom Aspinall UFC 321 eye poke controversy, with some positing that he took the easy way out in his fight with Ciryl Gane after the no-contest verdict was dealt out in their bout.

As a prominent MMA heavyweight titleholder holding the Oktagon MMA strap, when asked if he has any particular thoughts on the Aspinall eye poke discourse post-Gane fight in October, Fleury said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],

“Yeah, I think to be honest Tom earned the benefit of the doubt. You know, it’s undeniable the guy’s the best heavyweight in the world right now in my eyes. Like he’s gone in there and performed against everybody. Do I think it was possible to continue? It looked like it, but who am I? I’m not in there. I can’t see what he can see. You know, I don’t know how badly hurt his eye was.”

“It didn’t look like that significant [of] a poke. But at the same time, anybody who’s saying they can be certain about what Tom Aspinall could see at that point is full of s**t. So, you give the guy the benefit of the doubt. His performances up to now have been incredible. I think it’s like how quickly will that fight be rebooked and I’m really excited about that fight.”

Tom Aspinall detractors are “full of s**t”, per Fleury

As the OKMMA two-division champion further espoused his thoughts on the Tom Aspinall errant eye poke discourse, Will Fleury continued [via Bowks Talking Bouts],

“Look, I was going like I think everybody was watching it at the time felt a little bit robbed and because of that people reacted emotionally. They were like, “Oh, he’s a p***y. He’s full of s**t.” Like, “Oh, his eyes’ fine.” You know, you don’t know. That’s reality and you’re full of s**t if you say you do know because nobody could know except Tom Aspinall.”

“I think him going back in and performing again and the type of performance we see is going to tell us a lot. To me, look at how good the guy’s been for a significant period of time. Look at some of the other guys he’s beaten and the manner in which he’s beaten them. You got to give that guy the benefit of the doubt.”