Ciryl Gane and Josh Hokit are battling for the undisputed heavyweight title in the UFC 334 main event, but is the winner truly the best of the best in that division?
While Gane was crowned undisputed champion earlier this year, his title reign only started after Tom Aspinall gave up the belt when he was forced out of action due to an eye poke in his fight with the French heavyweight that has kept him out of action for over a year. To complicate matters even more, Jon Jones held that same title after he ran
roughshod over Gane, not to mention many believe Francis Ngannou is still the deserving No. 1 heavyweight in the sport, but he left the UFC in free agency.
Retired UFC welterweight Matt Brown argues that whether you like it or not, Gane and Hokit may be competing for the undisputed title but it’s almost impossible to put either of them in the No. 1 spot at heavyweight.
“The real uncrowned champ is somewhere between Jon Jones, Francis Ngannou and Tom Aspinall. Right?” Brown said on the latest episode ofThe Fighter vs. The Writer. “Three guys that we’re not getting to see fight.
“That’s one of the big problems with the heavyweight division, we have these guys fighting for the title and you have Alex Pereira in the picture and [Alexander] Volkov and everybody’s like Francis, Tom and Jon would beat all these guys.”
That said, Brown admits that Gane versus Hokit is still a quality fight but that doesn’t mean they’ll determine the best heavyweight in the sport.
With Aspinall still looming in the distance, Brown knows that factor is going to hang over this fight and any other heavyweight title bout in the near future
“The fact is it’s very f*cking disputed,” Brown said about the heavyweight title. “These guys are fighting for second place unfortunately. That’s just the reality of the business. That’s the downside. It’s still going to be a great fight.
“Just as a hardcore fan of this sport, a lover of this game and fighting, it just feels like we’re taking these wild-card teams and putting them in the Super Bowl.”
No matter who walks out with the belt, Brown believes the title actually belongs to Aspinall, who never lost but ultimately relinquished his championship due to injuries sustained in his own showdown with Gane.
“Tom Aspinall being out there, he’s just the uncrowned champ,” Brown said. “Keeping it real, I think Tom Aspinall would have a better chance of coming back and beating Hokit than he would Ciryl Gane. I think that would be what people would feel. That’s what I feel. Tom Aspinall’s the uncrowned champ.”
Because Gane has already had so many bites at the apple when it comes to the heavyweight title, Hokit winning would at least give the division a fresh start with a new champion.
Realistically, Brown knows the UFC is going to put its promotional power behind whoever is champion but Gane’s past loss to Jones, and the controversy surrounding his fight against Aspinall, serves as a distraction if he’s suddenly called undisputed champion.
“There’s an ideal scenario and a not ideal scenario,” Brown said. “The ideal scenario for the UFC is absolutely Josh Hokit wins. Do they care? Are they going to get emotionally invested in it? I don’t think so. They’re businessmen. Their business is going to keep cranking record numbers whether Josh Hokit or Ciryl Gane wins. Is it a better scenario for them if Josh Hokit wins? Of course, I think everyone would agree that’s an ideal scenario for the UFC.
“There’s a lot of baggage including [Ciryl Gane] losing to Jon Jones. Alex Pereira, there’s a controversy there, whether you agree with it or not. I think Alex was pretty much done anyway, and Ciryl had him beat, whether you talk about behind the head [punches] or not. Of course, the eye pokes with Tom, even though he was winning that fight.”
