UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall has conceded his confidence has dropped following his fight against Ciryl Gane in October.
Aspinall (15-3) made his first title defence against Gane (13-1) at UFC 321 but the fight was called off in Round 1 after Aspinall was poked in the eye. The bout was ruled a no contest.
He has since undergone surgeries on his eyes and while he has returned to light training, a timeline for his potential return to the Octagon remains unclear.
In the aftermath, Aspinall said he was disappointed with Dana White’s response to the incident after the UFC president said the Brit “didn’t want to continue” and appeared to play down the fighter’s injuries.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Aspinall said: “I mean, how can your confidence not take a knock? You work your whole life for something, and someone can just spin it on you that [I] just didn’t want to carry on.
“I’ve had millions of fights; I’ve been fighting since I was eight years old. That is not the case.
“I need to work on that [confidence] a little bit, and I feel like Eddie [Hearn] and the team are going to help with that. So that’s why I’ve come with them.”
Aspinall has teamed up with Eddie Hearn, who will act in a management role, and the newly formed Matchroom Talent Agency.
However, the heavyweight champion insisted signing with Hearn has nothing to do with his relationship with White.
“This is not like point-scoring stuff for me,” Aspinall said.
“This is me wanting to get what I think I’m worth. And if I can work with people who I like and they’re going to help me, I will absolutely take it. No, this isn’t me getting back at anyone or anything like that.
“Dana’s not spoken to me. To be honest, as far as I’m aware, or at least from my experience, UFC fighters don’t really have a personal relationship with Dana.
“We go through Hunter Campbell. I don’t think it’s really [White’s] job to reach out, but, no, I’ve not spoken to him personally.