UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall has issued a statement denying a recent claim from one of his coach’s that he’s not going to fight in the promotion again.

Aspinall was forced to speak out after his boxing coach Stipe Drvis reportedly claimed during an Instagram Live chat that the star wouldn’t fight in the UFC.

“I’m not leaving the UFC,” Aspinall wrote. “I’ve never said I have in any interview and any words that have been taken from others today are simply not true.

“We are talking with the UFC daily and they will update you guys always.”

The 33-year-old Aspinall hasn’t fought since being left unable to continue due to eyepokes in his first title defense against Ciryl Gane back in October of last year.

Aspinall’s long road to recovery since then has included undergoing surgery on both eyes amid uncertainty about his fighting future, but he had issued a positive update back in June when he indicated that he was now ready to return against Gane after his rival won the interim belt at the UFC: White House event.

A couple of months have gone by since then though without an official fight announcement, leading to continued speculation as to what’s actually happening behind the scenes.

It hasn’t helped that there appears to have been a breakdown in communication between Aspinall and Dana White since his injury that’s only been exacerbated by the champ signing a management deal with the UFC CEO’s bitter rival, boxing promoter Eddie Hearn.

After securing that deal, Hearn declared that he wouldn’t allow Aspinall to fight again in the UFC under his current contract.

That led to concerns that Aspinall was being dragged into the middle of a power struggle between the two promoters and might have to leave the promotion, though the star has stated several times since that he still intends to return to the Octagon to defend his title.