Matt Brown doesn’t think the UFC 334 main event will crown the best heavyweight in the world.
Ciryl Gane defends the heavyweight title against Josh Hokit on Saturday at Madison Square Garden. Speaking on The Fighter vs. The Writer, Brown said the real No. 1 isn’t in the fight, per MMA Fighting.
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.
The fact is it’s very f—ing disputed. 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.
Gane’s path to the belt has been messy. His UFC 321 fight with Aspinall ended in a no contest after an eye poke, and Aspinall later gave up the title. Gane won the interim belt against Alex Pereira at UFC Freedom 250 before being promoted.
Tom Aspinall being out there, he’s just the uncrowned champ. Keeping it real, I think Tom Aspinall would have a better chance of coming back and beating Hokit than he would Ciryl Gane.
Brown, who has defended Hokit before, also believes a Hokit win is the better outcome for the UFC.
The ideal scenario for the UFC is absolutely Josh Hokit wins. Do they care? Are they going to get emotionally invested in it? I don’t think so. They’re businessmen.
There’s a lot of baggage including [Ciryl Gane] losing to Jon Jones. Alex Pereira, there’s a controversy there, whether you agree with it or not.
Of course, the eye pokes with Tom, even though he was winning that fight.
