RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Josh Hokit wants to "reset" the UFC's heavyweight division.
With Tom Aspinall still on the sidelines with the UFC heavyweight title, and Ciryl Gane holding the interim belt, the controversial Hokit (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) wants things to get moving in the division. In a series of messages posted on X (formerly Twitter), Hokit ranted about the state of the division while calling his shots for the future, including a vacant title fight against Gane (14-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC) and a future showdown against former two-division champion Alex Pereira .
Hokit would like to see the promotion strip Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC), who hasn't competed since suffering an eye injury against Gane at UFC 321 last October, and create a vacant title fight between himself and Gane. Naturally, Hokit believes he would win that matchup and go on to break records on an active schedule. He said he's also not avoiding a fight against Pereira, but would prefer "Poatan" to get a win in the heavyweight division first after losing the interim title fight against Gane, so that he could get some of his "aura" back.
Hokit and Gane competed at UFC Freedom 250, where Hokit defeated Derrick Lewis by TKO in Round 2, and Gane stopped Pereira in the same round to win the interim heavyweight title.
Check out Hokit's full rant below ( via X ):
"@ufc Tom gets an eye poke, gets butt hurt none of us bought it, then hires Dana’s enemy Eddie Hearn so he could become a boxing bargaining chip in Eddie's beef with Dana. Then Eddie hits Ariel’s anti-Dana propaganda show multiple times to drive the dagger deeper? GTFOH. Strip that holdout or cut him. I’m 10-0 & #4 in the world. Give me @ciryl_gane in '26 & I’ll break Merab's defense record in '27.
"The HW division needs a champ who actually wants to fight, not another injury prone holdout. Plus I will completely reset the HWT storyline. And I ain't dodging @AlexPereiraUFC, he’s great for business and stays active. But why destroy Poatan right after the Gane dismantling? Let’s build that fight and get his aura back first. I want his aura for myself!
"If it's me & Alex next then lets make it a BMF title and I’ll end Alex whenever you want to schedule it…But lets get some of Alex's aura back first? Let's build that fight. Lets let Alex get use to the wieght class and create maximum amount of intrigue in our fight…..I want to chama on his mamma sooo bad! But let me beat the guy that he can't first and then he will get his title shot again right after.
"If me and Alex fight next, at 38 he is never fighting for the HWT Title again. I know his dumb brazilian coach thinks its a winnable fight for him, I promise you its not. So let's stop playing games. Cut Tom or strip him of his title and give me Ciryl Gane."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Josh Hokit wants Tom Aspinall stripped, vows to 'reset' heavyweight
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