Josh Hokit is heading into UFC 334 with a clear message for the rest of the heavyweight division: if he wins this weekend, he is open to fighting Tom Aspinall next.
Hokit will challenge Ciryl Gane for the undisputed heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 334, and he said Wednesday that he would not shy away from a future matchup with Aspinall. His stance is simple. If he becomes champion, he wants to keep the belt active and keep fighting.
“When I’m champion, anybody can get a fight,” Hokit said. “Anybody’s going to be able to get a fight. I’m not going to hold the belt and be sidelined. Anybody can get it.”
The possibility of a Tom Aspinall next fight exists because Aspinall’s future is still unclear. He vacated the heavyweight belt because of ongoing complications from an eye injury, and Hokit questioned whether Aspinall wants to return at all. Aspinall suffered multiple eye pokes in his last October fight with Ciryl Gane, which led to the injury and the uncertainty around his in-ring future.
Hokit questions whether Aspinall will return
Hokit did not frame the matchup as a demand so much as an option if the division settles in a certain direction. He also pointed to Aspinall’s partnership with Eddie Hearn, suggesting the move could be tied to a boxing payday rather than an immediate UFC comeback.
“We’ll see if Aspinall comes back, and we’ll see. I don’t think he wants to come back,” Hokit said. “You signed with Eddie Hearn, Dana [White]’s arch nemesis. To me, that’s like you’re just trying to get to the money, get a money fight in in boxing.”
Hokit added that if the UFC gives Aspinall a deal that makes sense, the fight could happen. But for now, he is focused on Saturday and on the chance to leave UFC 334 as champion.
“So, we’ll see if they give him a price to work with in the UFC, but I mean... Tom Aspinall wearing glasses, I’m whooping asses, entertaining the masses in the meantime. So yeah, if it makes sense, anybody can get it,” Hokit said.
There is also a bigger point behind Hokit’s comments. He believes a win this weekend could reset a heavyweight title picture that has moved quickly in recent months. In June, Ciryl Gane stopped Alex Pereira at the White House to win the interim title, and Hokit TKOed Derrick Lewis the same month. Then in September, Gane received the undisputed heavyweight title when Aspinall vacated the belt.
Hokit says he sees this as his chance to bring stability to the division, and he is not shy about the scope of the opportunity.
“[It would mean] the heavyweight division is saved. The future is born, the past will be put in a casket,” Hokit said. “That’s what I think. I don’t know if the heavyweight division has been cursed for these amount of years, but they haven’t had an active champion in a while, and so I’m here to give them that.”
For Hokit, the moment feels bigger than one fight. He said the path to this point has prepared him for the chance in front of him, and he pointed to the years of work that led to only four UFC fights before his title shot.
“I feel like everything, every situation in everyone’s life is preparing them for a moment that hasn’t happened yet. This is my moment,” Hokit said. “I think everything I’ve been through in my life has prepped me for this situation.”
“I’ve been wrestling since I was four, playing football since I was seven, and so just the rollercoaster journey, the ups and downs... People just see how quickly I got to the title, but they haven’t seen the whole process; they just see the four [UFC] fights,” he said.
If Hokit wins at UFC 334, the next steps in the heavyweight division could move quickly. And if Aspinall does return, Hokit has already made it clear he would be willing to meet him there.
