Ciryl Gane defends the undisputed heavyweight title against Josh Hokit at UFC 334 on Nov. 14 at Madison Square Garden. Whoever leaves the cage with the belt inherits a contender queue that looks like a bar tab nobody wants to split. Athlon’s rundown of the division lists four names: Alexander Volkov, Tom Aspinall, Alex Pereira and Sergei Pavlovich. Only one of them has the résumé, and he’s also the one the UFC’s CEO apparently couldn’t pick out of a lineup.
My argument is simple. Volkov gets the next shot. If the company hands it to anyone else, it’s betting on a story over a record.
The Résumé
Volkov beat Rizvan Kuniev at UFC 333, which puts him at seven wins in his last eight. The one loss in that stretch was a split decision to Gane in December 2024, and Dana White has acknowledged the injustice of that result, per ESPN MMA. So the only blemish came against the current champion, on a night the boss thinks Volkov got robbed. In handicapping terms, his true form reads closer to eight of eight.
The head-to-head math helps him too. Pavlovich, the supposed dark horse, already lost to Volkov. Pereira already lost to Gane. Whoever wins their fight, expected for UFC 335 in December, will carry one big win and one loss to someone sitting in this exact title picture. Volkov’s loss is the one even White considers a coin flip that landed wrong.
The Microphone Problem
Volkov’s trouble is that he wins on the cards, and decisions don’t go viral. He knows it and has tried to fix it by raising his media profile. At the UFC 333 press conference he stood up and asked White how he could get a title shot, a clear bid for a viral clip that went sideways because White seemingly didn’t recognize him. I’ve had parlays die with more dignity.
He also hasn’t helped himself with quotes like this one: “A belt does matter, maybe. It matters more for fans than for me. A belt doesn’t make me a better or worse fighter.” Honest? Sure. A sales pitch to matchmakers who weigh what’s good for business alongside who’s earned it? Not so much. Still, I’ll take a fighter with a deep record and no hype over the reverse every time. Hype is how people end up laying heavy chalk on a guy who hasn’t fought in a year.
Aspinall and the Layoff Problem
Which brings me to Aspinall. The former champ vacated after the eye injury he suffered in the October 2025 no-contest with Gane at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi. He’s been dealing with it for more than a year and hasn’t offered any recent update on a return. Athlon argues that if he’s cleared at the right moment, he should walk straight into a title fight, citing the UFC’s loyalty to Georges St-Pierre and Dominick Cruz after their injury layoffs.
That is the company’s habit. I just don’t trust it here. A fighter coming off a long layoff, with an eye injury and no public timeline, is exactly the profile I refuse to back at a short price. You can’t book a heavyweight title fight around a medical clearance that doesn’t exist yet. Aspinall said in a vlog reacting to Gane’s UFC Freedom 250 performance, “You’re up for it? I’ll do that. Let me know. I don’t mind. I’ll go to Paris. I’ll be there.” Lovely. Get cleared first.
If Hokit wins, there’s fresh heat waiting, since he dropped a diss track that mentioned Aspinall’s eye. That’s good promotion. It’s no reason to freeze the division.
Pereira, Pavlovich and the Highlight Tax
Pereira is the money. He lost to Gane in his heavyweight debut, believes Gane landed illegal punches to the back of his head, and has been adamant about a rematch. Hokit has called him out repeatedly, including the line “I wanna Chama on your mama!” which I will now hear in my sleep. A spectacular knockout of Pavlovich could vault Pereira past Volkov on drawing power alone, and I understand the business logic.
Pavlovich has the same path with less noise. His power is a real threat to Gane or Hokit, and if he flattens a name as big as Pereira, Volkov’s careful, less fan-friendly style becomes the tiebreaker against him.
Think about what that would mean, though. One knockout would wipe out seven wins in eight, a loss the promotion’s own boss has called unjust, and a head-to-head win over Pavlovich himself. Call it the highlight tax. Volkov has been paying it on every decision win, and the bill keeps growing.
My call: whether it’s Gane or Hokit holding the belt after Nov. 14, Volkov should be the next challenger no matter what happens at UFC 335. The first data point comes at the Garden. The second comes in December, and I’d bet Volkov watches that one with his arms crossed.
