Josh Hokit open to fighting Tom Aspinall but questions Briton's future

Josh Hokit says he would be willing to fight Tom Aspinall next should he dethrone Ciryl Gane in the UFC 334 main event this weekend, though he questioned whether the former champion has any appetite to return to the cage.

Hokit challenges Gane for the undisputed heavyweight title at Madison Square Garden, a belt the Frenchman inherited after Aspinall vacated it in September because of ongoing complications from an eye injury.

That injury was caused by repeated eye pokes from Gane during their fight last October, according to the Independent. Gane had already claimed the interim title in June by stopping Alex Pereira at the White House, on the same card where Hokit TKOed Derrick Lewis, and was elevated to full champion once Aspinall stepped away.

Speaking to media on Wednesday, Hokit made clear he would not shy away from a fight with Aspinall if he wins in New York. “When I’m champion, anybody can get a fight,” he said.

He followed that by insisting he has no intention of sitting on the title. “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.”

Hokit was less convinced Aspinall actually wants that fight, pointing to the Briton's focus on recovery and his links to boxing. “We’ll see if Aspinall comes back, and we’ll see. I don’t think he wants to come back,” he said.

He went on to raise Aspinall's partnership with promoter Eddie Hearn, who signed the UFC fighter to a new talent agency earlier this year and has been feuding publicly with UFC boss Dana White since the launch of Zuffa Boxing. “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 he expects Aspinall's camp to weigh up any offer from the UFC rather than commit to a return. “So, we’ll see if they give him a price to work with in the UFC,” he said, before continuing, “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.”

The 29-year-old has become one of the most polarising figures on the UFC roster, built around a WWE-style persona and a string of provocative remarks, including his claim at the White House event that Michelle Obama is “a man”, as reported by the Independent.

He described a win over Gane in suitably theatrical terms, saying it would mean “that Gotham is saved”, before adding that it would also mean “the heavyweight division is saved. The future is born”.

Yahoo Sports noted that Hokit's rise has been remarkably quick: he appeared on the UFC 324 card in January 2026 and is now, less than eleven months later, headlining a numbered event at Madison Square Garden, a trajectory helped by heavyweight being described as the thinnest division in the sport.

Yahoo Sports also outlined the stylistic gulf facing Hokit against Gane, pointing to the Frenchman's footwork and jab as likely to neutralise Hokit's usual strategy of backing opponents towards the cage, and noting that while Hokit is a strong wrestler, he is not regarded as a significant submission threat on the ground.

The UFC 334 card also features a co-main event in which Amanda Nunes challenges reigning women's bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison, a fight with history attached given the pair once trained together at American Top Team before Nunes left to open her own gym, per Yahoo Sports.

Aspinall's own future in the sport remains unresolved, with his focus for now on recovering from the eye injury that forced him out of the title picture, while Hokit's path to a potential fight with him depends first on what happens against Gane at Madison Square Garden.