Dana White braces for a world with Josh Hokit as UFC champ: Ive got a lot of thoug
For now the UFC heavyweight division is moving on from Tom Aspinall, and UFC CEO Dana White is prepared for any possibility in the immediate future.
During Saturday's UFC 331 broadcast in Los Angeles, the promotion announced that UFC 334 will be headlined by Ciryl Gane vs. Josh Hokit for the undisputed UFC heavyweight championship. After Aspinall vacated the title this past week, interim titleholder Gane has been promoted to undisputed heavyweight champion status, making the Nov. 14 date with Hokit at Madison Square Garden in New York his first official defense.
White revealed at UFC 331's post-fight press conference that his initial dismissal of Gane's promotion to the undisputed championship on Friday was an error on his part. And while much has been made of the saga with Aspinall after his eye injuries from his Gane fight in October 2025, White clarified that he holds no animosity toward the Brit.
"I don't like Tom. No, that's not the case," White said. "It's the furthest thing from the truth.
"This guy knows he's injured. He's going through stuff with the doctor. He knows it's going to be a while before he comes back. This is totally normal. I think, because of what I might have said [about his injuries], or what he might have responded to what I said after the thing, that people think that I don't like Tom. It's the furthest thing from the truth. I have no reason to not like Tom. Tom's never done anything for me not to like him. I mean, if I don't like somebody, I'm pretty f***ing honest about it. We're sitting here talking at the beginning of the press conference about Arman [Tsarukyan], and Arman made mistakes, and he's made up for him, and look at the position he's in right now after tonight."
In Aspinall's nine-month absence from the Octagon, it didn't seem like he did himself any favors by signing with White's latest promoter rival, Eddie Hearn, through Hearn's Matchroom Talent Agency. However, White made a point of saying he couldn't care less about Hearn's involvement with his now-former heavyweight champion.
"I promise you this: If I did not like Tom, I would say it," White said. "And when guys sign with Eddie Hearn — and this is no bulls***, I'm not taking shots — we f***ing crack up laughing. It's hilarious. So no, I don't dislike Tom — and anybody else who wants to sign with Eddie Hearn as their f***ing manager, fire away."
That brings the division to Gane vs. Hokit.
While former two-division champion Alex Pereira was thought to potentially still be in the title mix after his loss to Gane at UFC Freedom 250 in June, White teased that Pereira will have news of his own soon.
Yet for as much as White promised that he has no issues with Aspinall, he is also aware of the reality he's potentially set up for: a brash and controversial figure like Hokit as a champion.
In that case, he admittedly won't be thrilled. Especially considering the last time Hokit was given a big opportunity by the UFC, the heavyweight grotesquely insulted former U.S. First Lady Michele Obama in the cage on the White House's South Lawn — remarks which were swiftly and repeatedly condemned by White.
"Oh, I've got a lot of thoughts on that," White said about the possibility of Hokit becoming champion. "Yeah. Lots and lots. I'm sure they're the same thoughts that you're all having. I doubt we're that different.
"I don't police what people say, and any of that s*** — and if you keep winning, I say it all the time, I don't have to like you for you to thrive here and you to do well and be successful. Many people that I do not like have done very well here. So, I'm not saying that I don't like Josh Hokit. I literally don't f***ing like anything Josh Hokit says. And that's not going to change unless he changes, which I don't see happening. So I'm going to have to deal with that. That's a me issue, and I'm sure a you issue."