Josh Hokit Fires Back at Alexander Volkov Over Title Shot Mockery

Josh Hokit is scheduled to face Ciryl Gane for the vacant heavyweight championship at UFC 334, a bout created after Tom Aspinall vacated the title. However, the booking drew sarcasm from heavyweight contender Alexander Volkov, who mocked the promotion's decision to grant the unbeaten fighter a title opportunity.

Speaking on "The Ariel Helwani Show," Volkov sarcastically commended the UFC while claiming Hokit was dealing with "some mental illness." Volkov stated: "It’s very admirable for UFC to put a guy with a serious mental condition in a title shot. Guys with this kind of reason should fight first. It’s an incredibly inspiring story of a guy with mental illness who can fight for the heavyweight title. It’s a noble thing for UFC to do for him with his mental problem."

Hokit quickly fired back on X, targeting Volkov’s recent performances and questioning whether he deserves to remain on the UFC roster. "Maybe he should catch my 'mental illness' since he lost to the last 2 guys I beat," Hokit wrote. "Has anyone ever watched a Volkov fight all the way through? Should have cut his boring a-s when they cut [Jailton] Almeida."