Alexander Volkov questions what Ciryl Gane's UFC heavyweight belt means before Hokit defence

The No. 2 heavyweight, who fights Rizvan Kuniev at UFC 333 tonight, says title shots now go to fighters for being famous.

Alexander Volkov has questioned what the UFC heavyweight title means right now, with champion Ciryl Gane set to defend it against Josh Hokit at UFC 334 on November 14.

"Is Ciryl Gane a real champion right now? He is real if he has a belt," Volkov told MMA Fighting. "But what means his belt right now? This is the question. Maybe it loses the meaning all fans want it to have."

Volkov, ranked No. 2 at heavyweight, has won six of his last seven fights, and the one defeat in that run was a split decision to Gane. Since then Gane has had two title fights, against Tom Aspinall and Alex Pereira, and he now meets Hokit, who started fighting MMA when Volkov was already 11-4 in the UFC.

Volkov said title shots are now handed out for fame. "But now we can get fights, title shots [for] just being more famous, and doesn't matter how you [became] famous," he said.

He also described what the belt stands for under Gane. "The meaning of the belt is like that, a champion who can eye poke somebody in a fight, kick a groin or do something else, and then knock out guys and become a champion because he hurt another champion before," he said. "Then he will fight with a guy who is just very loud right now, kind of showman."

Volkov fights Rizvan Kuniev at UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi tonight, having signed a new multi-fight deal with the UFC. He said nobody is closer to a title shot than him: "Who can be closer to the title than me, who is No. 2 in ranking?"

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