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Aspinall Vacates the Belt, Ortega Out, Coker's New Promotion Lands

Tom Aspinall gives up the UFC heavyweight belt over lingering eye damage, Brian Ortega is scratched from UFC 331 fight week, and Scott Coker finally reveals his new promotion's format.

Aspinall Vacates the Belt, Ortega Out, Coker's New Promotion Lands

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Monday brought one of the heavier news dumps of the year, with a vacated UFC title, a fight-week scratch in Los Angeles, and Scott Coker's next venture all landing within hours of each other. Here's everything you need heading into a stacked week of fight cards.

Aspinall Vacates the Heavyweight Title

Tom Aspinall has officially given up the UFC heavyweight title after nearly a year on the sidelines with eye trouble that just won't clear up. He told he'd actually agreed to a fight date and was back sparring and feeling great when an accident caused further damage to his right eye. Aspinall said he's endured multiple surgeries, accidents and infections trying to get back, and with no medical clearance in sight, he made the call himself: "I've now made the decision to vacate the heavyweight title." He's adamant it's not goodbye, saying "I'll be back as soon as I'm medically able to be."

Jones Pokes, Hokit Pounces

Jon Jones wasted no time weighing in on Aspinall's announcement, amplifying a fan post that drew a pointed contrast between the two heavyweights. That post argued Jones defeated Ciryl Gane by guillotine choke in the first round, in just over two minutes, while Aspinall "gets fouled quits then cries about it for a year before finally giving up the belt. They're not the same. Here today, gone tomorrow." On a more constructive note, Josh Hokit used the now-vacant title as his opening to publicly campaign for a shot at heavyweight gold.

Ortega Scratched From UFC 331, Bonus Added

Brian Ortega is out of his UFC 331 showdown with Renato Moicano, pulled by injury just days before the Los Angeles card. Ortega posted that he'd been putting in serious work beforehand, saying "I've been training my ass off," which makes the late scratch sting even more. Moicano is now hunting for a new opponent on short notice, and Dana White has sweetened the pot by tacking an extra fifty thousand dollar bonus onto UFC 331, tied to an unusual catch related to the shakeup.

Scott Coker Unveils Ki MMA

Scott Coker used a New York media event to officially launch his next promotion, Ki MMA, built around a thirty two fighter global grand prix format pulling talent from four continents. Coker framed it as a clean, bracketed path to a first champion, saying "We're giving fighters across four continents a clear path to becoming our first World Grand Prix champion." Co-founder Levin added that the goal is sustainable growth, noting "We're building Ki MMA for the long term, with the resources, team, and discipline to grow responsibly," while Coker closed by saying the promotion wants to build stars while staying true to the discipline, character and respect that drew everyone to martial arts in the first place.

Contender Series Wraps, UFC 331 Buildup Continues

Season 10's Week 6 of Dana White's Contender Series went down, part of a night that continued the show's long track record of producing future UFC names. Looking ahead to UFC 331 on September 19 in Los Angeles, word is Arman Tsarukyan has been open about the stakes riding on his scheduled co-main event bout against Brazilian prospect Mauricio Ruffy, acknowledging the risk it carries for his standing atop the lightweight division and for whatever comes next in his UFC run.

From the community

Over on @Cagesidepress, fans are talking about this: Tom Aspinall vacates the UFC heavyweight title saying, "Ongoing complications with my eyes mean I cannot get medically cleared to fight right now. I’ve now made the decision to vacate the heavyweight.

Sources

Every source behind today's roundup (14)

We summarize the day's news in our own words. Full credit to the outlets below for the original reporting, click through to read their work:

Open Scoring MMA is a daily AI-produced MMA and UFC news podcast. Listen to today's episode, read the full Feed, or get every episode by email.

Episode transcript

Read the full episode transcript

Welcome to Open Scoring MMA. This is episode 89 for September 15th, 2026, your daily look at what's happening now and next across the world of MMA and UFC. DUKE: Duke and Nora with you, and we've got a heavyweight title that doesn't exist anymore.
NORA: Tom Aspinall has vacated it. Officially, as of today.
DUKE: Nearly a year on the shelf with that eye injury, and it just kept getting worse.
NORA: He said it himself, quote, ongoing complications with my eyes mean I cannot get medically cleared to fight right now, end quote.
DUKE: And he'd actually agreed to a fight date, was back sparring, felt great.
NORA: Then an accident caused more damage to the same eye. Multiple surgeries, infections, the whole nightmare.
DUKE: So now the heavyweight division is wide open again.
NORA: Completely vacant. No interim, nothing announced yet.
DUKE: That's brutal for a guy who was arguably the best big man on the planet and just could not get in the cage.
NORA: He did say he'll be back once he's medically able.
DUKE: I believe him, I just don't know when that clock starts.
NORA: Let's stay on the fallout, because it got ugly fast.
DUKE: Jon Jones didn't waste any time either.
NORA: A post credited to MMA Joey drew the comparison, saying Jones got fouled by Ciryl Gane early and never complained, then finished him minutes later.
DUKE: And then went right at Aspinall, saying that Jones never complained about his own injuries, and that Aspinall was not the same.
NORA: That's ice cold, and it's not even Jones' own words there, but he's clearly stoking it.
DUKE: Rough timing to pile on a guy who just admitted he can barely see out of one eye.
NORA: The fans on X are already fired up about this one too, plenty of them defending Aspinall for being upfront about a legitimate medical issue instead of hanging onto a belt he couldn't defend.
DUKE: Yeah, and on the other side of that vacancy, Josh Hokit isn't wasting a second either.
NORA: He's calling for a heavyweight title shot now that the belt's sitting empty.
DUKE: Bold move, but that's exactly what you do when a door like this swings open.
NORA: The division's a scramble right now. Whoever the UFC lines up next basically inherits the throne by default.
DUKE: Now, the other injury story actually hits this week's card directly.
NORA: Brian Ortega is out of UFC 331, and it's not a small deal.
DUKE: He said, quote, I've been training my ass off, end quote.
NORA: He posted that this one hurts, right after the news dropped fight week. And Dana White's already sweetening the pot, with a special “proper chaos bonus” for a fighter at UFC 331.
DUKE: Gotta love Dana finding a way to make a scratch even more chaotic.
NORA: It's a smart move honestly, gets fighters lining up on short notice.
DUKE: Let's talk about the fight that's still very much on, because Arman Tsarukyan is not soft-pedaling this one.
NORA: He's reportedly fighting Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 331 on September nineteenth, and he knows exactly what's at stake.
DUKE: He called it all or nothing, and openly recognized the risk fighting a rising Brazilian prospect like Ruffy.
NORA: That's smart framing from him. A loss to Ruffy right now could genuinely stall his path back to a title shot.
DUKE: And a win puts him right back in the mix at one seventy.
NORA: Lightweight, Duke.
DUKE: Lightweight, sorry, one fifty five. Either way, massive fight for both of their futures. Big news on the business side too. Scott Coker's finally unveiled his new promotion.
NORA: It's called Ki MMA, and it's a thirty two fighter global grand prix format across four continents.
DUKE: Coker said, quote, we're giving fighters across four continents a clear path to becoming our first World Grand Prix champion, end quote.
NORA: And his partner Levin talked about building this for the long term, quote, with the resources, team, and discipline to grow responsibly, end quote.
DUKE: Coker's got a track record building stars, so I'm not writing this off.
NORA: A real tournament format is different from what we usually get in this sport. Worth watching how fast they actually get fighters signed.
DUKE: Speaking of finding new fighters, Dana White's Contender Series wrapped week six of season ten.
NORA: We're still waiting on the official results for the main and co-main events.
DUKE: We'll keep an eye on that for you.
NORA: And that stage has produced real names before, Sean O'Malley, Dan Ige, Maycee Barber all came through Contender Series.
DUKE: Contracts on the line every single week, that show never gets boring.
NORA: One more we should mark, a career closing out. Seksan fought his farewell bout at Inner Circle 30.
DUKE: Thirty years in the sport and four World Titles, that's a legendary run by any measure.
NORA: He said it himself, quote, I gave it my all, end quote. Hard not to respect that kind of send off.
DUKE: Okay, let's get into our pick, because this one's got a wrinkle.
NORA: Right, because the fight our model actually locked onto this week just fell apart. Before Ortega withdrew, we had Ortega against Moicano.
DUKE: So walk me through what the model had, even though it's now moot.
NORA: Moicano at negative two fifteen, Ortega plus one eighty. Our system had Moicano winning around seventy two percent of the time.
DUKE: And the betting line implied what, sixty six?
NORA: Sixty six percent. So we were sitting higher than the market on this one, and that's a real value gap.
DUKE: Why though? Ortega's got some of the best jiu jitsu in the sport.
NORA: Sure, but Moicano's got a three inch height and three inch reach advantage on him, and that's substantial at this weight.
DUKE: Reach mattering that much surprises me a little.
NORA: It shouldn't. And Moicano's not just bigger, he's a strong grappler with legitimate striking too, which can neutralize Ortega's whole game plan if he dictates where the fight happens.
DUKE: So the size plus the wrestling closes the door on the jiu jitsu threat.
NORA: Basically. And for what it's worth, I personally lean that way too, which nudges our sentiment number a touch.
DUKE: Shame we don't get to see it this week.
NORA: Maybe it gets rebooked down the line. The numbers said Moicano, clearly.
DUKE: Alright, before we move on, let's be honest with the crowd about how the model's actually running.
NORA: Seventy four and twenty two on the season. Hit rate right around seventy seven percent.
DUKE: And the market's hitting what, seventy eight and a half?
NORA: Yeah, so technically the market's still slightly ahead of us overall.
DUKE: So we're not beating Vegas.
NORA: Not on the raw number, no. But our value picks are thirteen and two.
DUKE: Thirteen and two, that's the number that actually matters to me.
NORA: It's the number that should matter. When we say we're higher than the line, that's where we've actually been sharp.
DUKE: And personally, I'm one and one calling these on the show.
NORA: I'm zero and one, so don't let me get cocky about anything today.
DUKE: Wouldn't dream of it. Alright, let's look ahead, because the schedule doesn't slow down.
NORA: UFC 331 is this Saturday, September nineteenth, in Los Angeles. Alexandre Pantoja defends against Joshua Van in a rematch that is said to headline the card.
DUKE: And we're hearing Tsarukyan versus Ruffy is on the card as well.
NORA: The following week, September twenty sixth, we get a Fight Night with Raoni Barcelos facing Raul Rosas Junior in the main event.
DUKE: We'll keep an eye on the rest of that card as it develops.
NORA: After that, October third brings UFC 332, Natalia Silva against Wang Cong headlining.
DUKE: We'll wait and see what else gets added to that one.
NORA: And the week after, October tenth, Brendan Allen takes on Christian Leroy Duncan.
DUKE: That's a full month of fights lined up, no excuse to miss any of it.
NORA: We'll be tracking every change between now and fight night, especially with how fast this week's card already shifted.
DUKE: That's the show for today, folks.
NORA: Catch us back here tomorrow for more.
We're on Renato Moicano here. Who are you taking? Before you go, two quick things. Check out our free Fight Tracker at tracker dot open scoring m m a dot com, with every upcoming UFC and PFL card, live odds, and where to watch, all in one place. And follow us on YouTube, just search Open Scoring MMA, for breaking news alerts, fight breakdowns, and videos you won't get here on the feed. That's it for today's Open Scoring MMA. Keep your hands up, and we'll see you next time.