The UFC heavyweight division just told every ranked contender in the top ten that wins do not matter as much as a viral moment does. Josh Hokit is getting the next crack at Ciryl Gane’s undisputed heavyweight title at UFC 334, and he is getting it after one win over a faded Derrick Lewis and a White House press line that made him famous for the worst possible reason.
Meanwhile, Alexander Volkov, a man who has won five of his last six fights and lost only a split decision to Gane himself, watches the title shot go to someone with a fraction of his resume. That is not a hot take. That is just what happened, and it says everything about where the UFC’s priorities sit right now.
🎯 Key Takeaways
- Josh Hokit gets the next shot: UFC 334 books Ciryl Gane’s first defense of the undisputed heavyweight title against Hokit, whose biggest recent headline was disparaging Michelle Obama at the UFC White House card, not anything he did in the cage.
- Alexander Volkov is the fighter who earned it: five wins in his last six, with the lone loss a split decision to Gane, and victories over Waldo Cortez Acosta, Jailton Almeida and Sergei Pavlovich along the way.
- UFC 331’s judging is under real scrutiny: Joshua Van’s unanimous decision over Alexandre Pantoja included a 50-45 scorecard that handed Van every round, including one that two other judges and California State Athletic Commission executive director Andy Foster all had for Pantoja.
- Gable Steveson’s hype is over, at least for now: the Olympic gold medalist was knocked out by Sean Sharaf in 12 seconds, one of the biggest betting upsets in UFC history.
Table of Contents
Why the Josh Hokit Title Shot Doesn’t Add Up
Start with the resume. Josh Hokit has one notable UFC win, a finish of an aging Derrick Lewis. That is a solid result. It is not a title-shot result.
What actually got Hokit into title contention was the UFC White House card, where he called Michelle Obama a man in the kind of moment that generates headlines nobody in the sport should want. UFC president Dana White has publicly distanced himself from the comments. He can say that all he wants. He is still the same promoter whose recent matchmaking decisions have already drawn plenty of scrutiny, and he is still cutting the check that puts Hokit in the biggest fight of his career.
Wrong kind of publicity still moves the needle, and that is the ugly truth the UFC does not want to say out loud. Hokit brought the UFC the kind of mainstream press coverage that makes longtime fans embarrassed to watch, and it worked anyway.
The Case for Alexander Volkov
Alexander Volkov has won five of his last six fights. His only loss in that stretch is a split decision to Gane himself, a fight plenty of people scoring at home had going the other way.
Along the way, he beat Waldo Cortez Acosta, a legitimately tough out. He beat Jailton Almeida, a dangerous grappler who gives most heavyweights fits. He beat Sergei Pavlovich, a former title challenger with knockout power in both hands.
That is not a padded resume. That is a top contender doing exactly what a top contender is supposed to do, and doing it against the actual gatekeepers of the division. If the UFC wants to argue Hokit deserves the shot on pure sporting merit, that argument does not survive five minutes of scrutiny against what Volkov has built.
UFC 334 Title Fight: What We Know
UFC 331’s Judging Problem Won’t Go Away Quietly
Josh Hokit is not the only thing UFC 331 left behind. Joshua Van’s unanimous decision win over Alexandre Pantoja to retain the flyweight title was a legitimate Fight of the Year contender. The scoring afterward was not legitimate at all.
Van won a close, violent five rounds, no argument there. But one scorecard came back 50-45, meaning that judge gave every single round to Van, including the fourth round that the other two judges, and pretty much everyone else watching, scored for Pantoja.
California State Athletic Commission executive director Andy Foster publicly questioned the scorecards after the show, which is not a small thing. When the guy who runs the commission that licenses the judges is the one raising the flag, that is not fans being sore about a decision. That is an official acknowledging a real problem.
“It didn’t decide the fight, but it could. Next time it could, and it ruins an evening. Judges need to be held accountable.”
— Ringside Report Network, on the UFC 331 scoring controversy
This is not the first time judging in a marquee UFC fight has come under fire, and it will not be the last. But a fourth round that three separate sets of eyes all had for Pantoja, and one judge still handed to Van, is the exact kind of scoring gap that turns a great fight into a controversy nobody needed.
Gable Steveson’s Hype Just Collapsed in 12 Seconds
The same card produced one of the biggest upsets in UFC history. Gable Steveson, the Olympic gold medalist who was supposed to be a future heavyweight problem, walked into a left hook from Sean Sharaf and was out before the fight hit the 12-second mark.
Steveson had looked confident and composed in his previous outing, but that came against a largely untested opponent. Heavyweight is not a division where a shaky chin and an open, balls-out striking style stays hidden for long. It found him fast this time.
The hype is over, at least for now. Whether Steveson can rebuild it depends entirely on how he responds to the first real humbling of his combat sports career.
Reality Check: The UFC Rewarded the Wrong Kind of Attention
The Reality: Josh Hokit is getting a heavyweight title shot because he generated headlines, not because he beat the fighters standing between him and a belt. Alexander Volkov did the actual work, beating three legitimate gatekeepers in a row, and gets passed over anyway. Combine that with a UFC 331 scorecard that three sets of eyes and the state’s own athletic commission couldn’t reconcile, and the message from this event is not subtle. The UFC will hand out opportunities based on attention, and the officials scoring its biggest fights are not being held to the standard the sport needs.
None of this makes the actual fights less worth watching. Van and Pantoja put on a genuine classic. Gane is a legitimate, technical champion who deserves credit regardless of who is standing across from him at UFC 334. But the UFC’s own decisions around that card- who gets the next shot and how the judges scored the main event- are the parts that will linger long after the highlights stop trending.
This is exactly the kind of debate Tremendous Sports Talk was built for, MMA sitting alongside every other sport worth arguing about, live and unscripted.
Why is Josh Hokit getting a UFC heavyweight title shot?
Josh Hokit is fighting Ciryl Gane for the undisputed heavyweight title at UFC 334. His case rests on one notable UFC win over Derrick Lewis and the mainstream attention he drew after disparaging Michelle Obama at the UFC White House card, not a resume of wins over ranked contenders.
What is Alexander Volkov’s UFC record right now?
Alexander Volkov has won five of his last six fights, with his only loss a split decision to Ciryl Gane. His recent wins include Waldo Cortez Acosta, Jailton Almeida, and Sergei Pavlovich, making him the more accomplished heavyweight contender being passed over for the Josh Hokit title fight.
What happened with the judging at UFC 331?
Joshua Van won a unanimous decision over Alexandre Pantoja to retain the flyweight title, but one judge scored the bout 50-45, giving Van every round, including the fourth, which the other two judges scored for Pantoja. California State Athletic Commission executive director Andy Foster publicly questioned the scorecards after the event.
Who knocked out Gable Steveson at UFC 331?
Sean Sharaf knocked out Gable Steveson in 12 seconds at UFC 331, one of the biggest upsets in UFC history given Steveson’s status as an Olympic gold medalist and rising heavyweight prospect.
When is the Ciryl Gane vs Josh Hokit title fight?
Ciryl Gane defends the undisputed UFC heavyweight title against Josh Hokit at UFC 334, in what will be Gane’s first title defense since being promoted to undisputed champion.
