UFC: Tom Aspinall backed by Modestas Bukauskas to return as ‘most dangerous’ he’s ever been

UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall will return from his eye injury the “most dangerous” fighter he has ever been, training partner Modestas Bukauskas believes.

Aspinall said earlier this month he was set to have surgery after sustaining a “nightmare” injury following an accidental eye poke from Ciryl Gane in October.

The eye poke, which caused Aspinall’s first undisputed title defence to end in a no-contest, left the 32-year-old with “persistent” double vision.

Some pundits, such as UFC commentator Joe Rogan, have questioned whether Aspinall will ever compete again after the injury, but training partner Bukauskus has no doubts.

“When he comes back expect to see the most dangerous Tom Aspinall you’ve ever seen,” Bukauskus told BBC Sport.

“He’s an incredible athlete, an incredible person and this is only going to make him that much sharper and better. Heavyweight division, watch out.”

Lithuanian-Briton Bukauskas lost against Nikita Krylov at UFC 324 last week and could not train with Aspinall in preparation for the fight because of the eye injury.

“Tom’s dealing with that really horrible eye injury. I feel really bad for him because he’s looking at potentially getting surgery and his eyes still aren’t 100%,” Bukauskus added.

“I’ve been keeping tabs, sending messages here and there to [check] how he’s doing.”