Tom Aspinall has given up the belt rather than hold up the division.
The UFC heavyweight champion announced on Monday morning that he is relinquishing the title after ongoing complications with his vision. He injured both eyes when Ciryl Gane inadvertently poked him in their title fight at UFC 321 last October, has had multiple surgeries since and was never cleared to return. He said he is not leaving the UFC.
Gane is the obvious beneficiary. He won the interim title by finishing Alex Pereira at UFC Freedom 250 in June and will likely be elevated to undisputed champion now.
Josh Hokit did not wait for the ink to dry.
The fans deserve Me vs Gane. I’ll give Ciryl what he has coming. If Alex can win 1 fight in my weight class, I’ll give it to him too, early ’27. I’ll be the most active champ in the company.
He also took a shot at Gane’s submission loss to Jon Jones at UFC 285.
The first thing the JacksonWink coaches teach you when you arrive in Albuquerque, is how to finish Ciryl Gane in under 2 1/2 mins.
Hokit has earned the right to talk. He is 10-0 overall and 4-0 in the UFC, having outlasted Curtis Blaydes in a Fight of the Year contender and then finished Derrick Lewis inside two months. He spent last week shutting down Pereira’s campaign for a Gane rematch, arguing that neither Pereira nor Ilia Topuria deserves a title shot off a loss.
The move follows a pattern set this month. Valentina Shevchenko vacated the women’s flyweight title with shoulder and back injuries, and the UFC guaranteed her a shot on her return. Dana White was asked last week whether Aspinall might do the same and said the company would definitely be talking about it.
Aspinall never defended the undisputed title. He was elevated from interim champion when Jon Jones retired last summer, and the UFC 321 no contest was his only outing with the belt.
