UFC Heavyweight Champion Tom Aspinall posted a training video to signal his upcoming return to the Octagon. 

Aspinall sustained a severe eye injury during his first defense of the Heavyweight title, having been promoted from Interim Champion, against Ciryl Gane in October last year. 

He announced he would be having multiple eye surgeries at the turn of the new year, with no clear timeline for his return. And an Interim Heavyweight Championship fight was booked between Alex Pereira and Gane at the Freedom 250 card at the White House. 

Aspinall posted a video showing he had returned to training after the surgeries, indicating that he is on the steady road to returning, on Friday. 

“Coming for it all,” Aspinall wrote on X. The video itself had an end caption: “It begins. Back to work.”

Coming for it all 👑 pic.twitter.com/hnzvjNUEvi

— Tom Aspinall (@AspinallMMA) March 20, 2026

Aspinall only recently agreed to a multi-year deal with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Talent Agency, adding a bit more fuel to the fire after UFC President Dana White had launched Zuffa Boxing, going on to sign Conor Benn away from Matchroom Boxing. Now, White may have to negotiate with Hearn as it pertains to his UFC Heavyweight Champion. 

White said immediately after the announcement of Aspinall’s Matchroom signing that he had no issue with Hearn, and reasoned that he had managed to negotiate with Ortiz before, so would have no issue getting things done.

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.’s live coverage of UFC Fight Night 270, headlined by Movsar Evloev versus Lerone Murphy at the O2 Arena in London, England. 

Evloev looks to extend his 19-0 record against his similarly unbeaten opponent in Murphy at featherweight, though Murphy will enjoy the added benefit – or pressure – that comes with returning to his home nation. Likewise, Luke Riley will be representing England against USA’s Michael Aswell Jr. in featherweight action. 

Michael “Venom” Page and Sam Patterson clash in an all-English welterweight bout, preceded by the only fight not to feature an Englishman: Poland’s Iwo Baraniewski against USA’s Austen Lane at heavyweight. 

Prior to that, Christian Leroy Duncan of England will take on Georgia’s Roman Dolidze at middleweight, and Kurtis Campbell will face USA’s Danny Silva at featherweight. 

The event will be available to those in the US via Paramount+ and internationally for those using UFC Fight Pass and TNT Sports. The main card is scheduled to begin at 4 PM ET.

Not long after that match, on June 13, 2022, Jeff Hardy was arrested for three felony charges including a “3rd DUI offense within 10 years,” “driving with a suspended/revoked license,” and “violating restrictions placed on a license.” According to Matt, he, Jeff, and Matt’s wife Reby were all in Orlando, Florida, that day after a signing at Dave & Buster’s when things went awry.

“Jeff had to go back to Jacksonville to do something. He was getting some sort of scan done – I want to say he was getting a scan done on his brain or something. And it may have been from even that injury in the Bucks match,” Matt recalled. “I remembered Reby and I had phoned home, because she was with me, and I remember landing in Raleigh, North Carolina, and turning on my phone and getting a bunch of messages and I had just learned that Jeff had been arrested.”

Matt recalled feeling sick to his stomach after reading the news, but despite being disheartened by everything, he was still very worried about Jeff. He first checked in with Jeff’s wife, Beth, but all the while, Matt knew that the situation would spiral out of control.

“The only positive I could say out of [the arrest] was that this was the straw that broke the camel’s back and made him change everything about his entire life,” Matt added. “He’s been the best version of himself ever since then.”

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

Pop culture and pro wrestling crossovers were far more frequent in the late 1990s and the early 2000s, with the recent appearances of Jelly Roll and Bad Bunny acting as a celebrity crossover resurgence. Mr. T’s blockbuster appearance at the first ever WWE WrestleMania is another notable example, but a year before the “A-Team” star arrived, pop star Cyndi Lauper debuted in WWE as the manager of Wendi Richter.

In light of the 2026 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony – which will induct Stephanie McMahon, AJ Styles, and Demolition – Jim Ross made the case for Lauper to be inducted in the celebrity wing this year while speaking on his “Grilling JR” podcast. “I think she probably was discussed to be in the Hall of Fame somewhere during the past, and more likely the recent past, but I think it’s a no-brainer,” Ross said. “Cyndi Lauper belongs in the WWE Hall of Fame for the contributions she made.”

Ross noted that Lauper specifically brought a lot of awareness to WWE back in the ’80s with the MTV fanbase. “I think that she should be in the Hall of Fame as a result of that,” he added. In the past, Richter has spoken about her pairing with Lauper, noting that she still absolutely loves the pop star’s hit song, “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” and also echoed Ross’ opinion that Lauper belongs in the WWE Hall of Fame celebrity wing. Richter also proclaimed that Lauper ultimately did more for wrestling than any other celebrity.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “Grilling JR” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.