Zuffa LLC
Ciryl Gane will be defending his heavyweight gold against Josh Hokit at UFC 334 on Saturday, but the bout won’t determine who is the baddest man on the planet if you ask Matt Brown.
After capturing the interim gold against Alex Pereira back in June, Gane was promoted to undisputed status when Tom Aspinall was forced to stay sidelined due to his ongoing eye problems. Gane will make his first defense against Hokit, who earned his shot with wins over Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis.
While undisputed gold is at stake, Brown made it clear on MMAFighting’s “The Fighter vs. The Writer” that Gane vs. Hokit is not exactly a race to the top.
“The fact is it’s very f*cking disputed,” Brown said. “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.
“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.”
Brown believes the best heavyweights in MMA boil down to three names, but there’s a significant issue.
“The real uncrowned champ is somewhere between Jon Jones, Francis Ngannou and Tom Aspinall. Right? Three guys that we’re not getting to see fight.”
Brown isn’t sold on anyone laying claim to the UFC heavyweight title other than Aspinall.
“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.”
Will you consider the winner of Ciryl Gane vs. Josh Hokit the best heavyweight in MMA today, or do you think it’s up for debate until Tom Aspinall has a definite answer on his future? Drop a comment below.
This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM
