Hokit fires back at Volkov with roster jibe after UFC 334 title shot mockery

Josh Hokit has responded sharply to Alexander Volkov’s public mockery of his upcoming UFC heavyweight title fight, telling the Russian he is “lucky to still be on the roster” after a string of poor results.

Hokit is scheduled to challenge Ciryl Gane for the heavyweight championship at UFC 334, a bout made possible after Tom Aspinall vacated the title. Volkov, who has been passed over for a title shot, took aim at the decision during an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, sarcastically framing Hokit’s selection as an act of charity toward someone with a “serious mental condition.”

“I want to be honest with you. I’m very supportive of this fight from the UFC,” Volkov told Helwani. “I have a lot of reasons that this fight should happen because Josh Hokit, from what I know about him, is clearly dealing with some mental illness. So, it’s very admirable for UFC to put a guy with a serious mental condition in a title shot. Of course, he should go in front of me. 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. I very much support UFC with that. It’s a noble thing for UFC to do for him with his mental problem.”

Hokit wasted little time responding on X, turning Volkov’s record against him and questioning whether the veteran deserves his place on the UFC roster at all.

“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? He’s lucky to still be on the roster. Should have cut his boring a-s when they cut [Jailton] Almeida.”

The exchange underlines the frustration building around Volkov, a long-standing heavyweight contender who has seen a title opportunity slip away despite his ranking. Hokit, who enters the Gane fight unbeaten, has now made clear he has no intention of letting the criticism go unanswered ahead of what would be the biggest night of his career.