Tom Aspinall announced on Monday that he was vacating his UFC heavyweight title after suffering a setback in his recovery following multiple surgeries to repair damage done to his eyes following a fight against Ciryl Gane back in 2025.
It’s a heartbreaking turn of events for Aspinall after he waited so long to become undisputed champion —while also trying to fight Jon Jones to for that title — but now he’s out of action for an undetermined amount of time and the UFC has to figure out what to do with the heavyweight title. Technically, Ciryl Gane could easily just get promoted to undisputed champion after he defeated Alex Pereira at the UFC White House card to claim the interim belt but that doesn’t solve the bigger problem when it comes to the overall heavyweight division.
Following his loss to Gane in June, Pereira went on the offensive claiming referee Herb Dean was partially to blame for his downfall after he failed to penalize Gane for illegal shots to the back of the head. Pereira has continued to call for a rematch and now it seems like he might actually get his wish but is that what’s best for the Brazilian and the rest of the division?
“I think the downside of that fight – if Alex goes out and loses again, what does that do to his stock?” retired UFC welterweight Matt Brown said on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. “I know what he did at [middleweight and light heavyweight], it was amazing stuff. That shit’s in the past. You’re a heavyweight now.
“You lose twice, you’re not fighting Tom Aspinall when Tom Aspinall comes back. I don’t know what that does to his future of big fights. I don’t know what big fights you make after that. That’s what I mean by his stock. Everyone is going to respect Alex Pereira the same but what do “
There’s little argument that Pereira is the biggest name at heavyweight right now as he already commands superstar status whenever he competes. If he can go out and avenge that past loss to Gane and become undisputed heavyweight champion, it’s a history making moment for Pereira because he would be the first fighter in UFC history to hold titles across three divisions.
But the flipside to that result is Gane knocks out Pereira again and now one of the UFC’s most popular fighters is stuck in limbo and the heavyweight diviiosn still doesn’t look that much better in his absence.
“Maybe he beats Ciryl the next time. I would pick Ciryl to win, I picked him the first time but that’s where it starts to hurt his stock at that point,” Brown said. “Guys can be resistant to that when you’re Conor [McGregor level superstar] or Ilia [Topuria] or maybe even Alex but with him being 39 and you’ve got the other potentials in the division like [Josh Hokit] or Gable Steveson, if he loses that fight, the future doesn’t look quite as bright for him as it’s looked in the past.”
While Gable Steveson is just starting out his UFC career, he’s obviously got the potential to rescue the heavyweight division thanks to his wrestling pedigree where he’s an Olympic gold medalist but he’s probably still years away from compting for the belt.
The other option is the always outspoken Josh Hokit, who is undefeated and certainly not afraid to call his shot whenever he fights. The problem with Hokit is his outlandish behavior isn’t exactly attractive for most fans and it’s unclear if the powers-that-be at the UFC want to put a title around his waist.
Add to that, Brown acknowledges that Hokit’s style could be a serious problem for anybody else at heavyweight including Gane and Pereira.
“Hokit’s not a great matchup for [Pereira],” Brown said. “I’m sorry. I think it’s a winnable fight for Alex and if Alex is able to win that fight, I think that’s phenomenal win. It’s going to get a lot of eyeballs, a lot of people would loves to see Hokit get knocked out.
“I think it would bring a lot more attention to Alex so it probably would be the fight to make. But that’s not a bright future. If you lose to Ciryl Gane and then you’re fighting Josh Hokit, that’s not a great situation to be in.”
As of now, the UFC hasn’t made any announcements regarding the future of the heavyweight division with Aspinall vacating the belt and taking time off to recover from his eye injury.
It’s impossible to know for sure what UFC CEO Dana White is going to decide but Brown knows the options are limited and not all that appealing right now.
“It sucks for Tom Aspinall,” Brown said. “It sucks for the UFC. It sucks for the fans. It just sucks for everyone involved.”
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