Josh Hokit calls Tom Aspinall's eye injury 'fake' and says Gane does not deserve the title

Aspinall vacated the heavyweight title after multiple eye surgeries. Hokit, who fights Gane for it at UFC 334, told Ariel Helwani he does not think the injury is real.

Josh Hokit has claimed Tom Aspinall's eye injury is fake, and says the man he fights for the undisputed heavyweight title, Ciryl Gane, does not deserve it.

Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show on Monday, Hokit said Aspinall had played it safe. "I ain't doing no p*ssy sh*t like Tom Aspinall, where it's like, sh*t, let's wait 500 days for Jon Jones. That sh*t didn't even come to fruition... And then he gets punished... When you play it safe in this world, you get punished, gang," he said. "You come back, you fight Ciryl Gane, he pokes the f*ck out of your eye... And then it's like, now he can't fight."

He then went further. "But honestly, even that topic... I don't even think that sh*t's real," Hokit said. He said Aspinall posted about his condition on Instagram to say "'Hey, everybody feel bad for me. I can't fight still'", said he "has fake surgery, all that other sh*t", and added: "I think he's just trying to get out of his deal." A little later he repeated it: "That sh*t's all fake, gang."

Aspinall has given a different account. When he vacated the title, he said he had undergone multiple surgeries and suffered accidents and infections related to his eyes after the accidental eye poke that ended his fight with Gane at UFC 321 in October 2025 as a no contest, and that he intends to return when he is medically able: Aspinall vacates the heavyweight title.

Hokit was no kinder about Gane, who was promoted to undisputed champion when Aspinall vacated. "But honest opinion, I don't think he deserves an undisputed title, but I mean, it's better for me... But I don't think you should reward someone for cheating, especially if you look like the bald Kamala Harris, AKA D*ck Sucker Jones, AKA Buff Teddy Graham," he said. "But I think it's setting me up perfectly, because when I beat the f*ck out of him, I'm undisputed."

Gane has said the eye poke was accidental: Gane calls Aspinall 'a little mentally fragile'. Hokit and Gane meet at UFC 334 at Madison Square Garden on 14 November. Hokit also said Alex Pereira lost to Gane because of "the wrath of God": Hokit on Pereira.

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