UFC Heavyweight Rankings Shift After Tom Aspinall Vacates Title
The UFC heavyweight rankings changed in a hurry after Tom Aspinall gave up the championship on Monday. Ciryl Gane is now the man at the top of the division, with the interim belt he won in June expected to become the undisputed title.
Aspinall vacated because of ongoing eye damage that began with Gane’s pokes in their October 2025 no-contest and flared again during a recent sparring accident. The former champion is 15-3 with one no-contest and sits just below the throne rather than on it. He has not finished a title fight since being elevated when Jon Jones retired.
Gane is 14-2 with one no-contest after a second-round stoppage of Alex Pereira at UFC Freedom 250. That win made him interim champion, and Aspinall’s exit leaves Gane as the ranking and title-picture leader even though he has never beaten Aspinall, Jones, or Francis Ngannou in an undisputed final.
Alexander Volkov is No. 2 at 40-11. The veteran beat Waldo Cortes-Acosta in May and is booked against Rizvan Kuniev at UFC 333 on Oct. 24 in Abu Dhabi. Volkov already owns a win over Sergei Pavlovich and remains the most finished contender still active on a short leash.
Pavlovich holds No. 3 at 21-3 after stopping Tallison Teixeira in May. His only recent losses are to Aspinall and Volkov, and he still has ranked wins over Derrick Lewis, Curtis Blaydes, and Cortes-Acosta. A title shot is not next unless the fights above him stall.
Undefeated Josh Hokit is No. 4 at 10-0. The former NFL fullback ran through Derrick Lewis at UFC Freedom 250 and has already asked for Gane after Aspinall stepped aside. The case against him is the thin résumé at the very top, even after a hard win over Blaydes.
The middle of the official list moved after Noche UFC on Sept. 12. Blaydes beat Cortes-Acosta by unanimous decision and climbed to No. 5 or No. 6 depending on the panel, while Cortes-Acosta slipped a spot to around No. 6 at 17-4. Blaydes is 20-6 with one no-contest and remains a dangerous veteran who just took a ranked win.
Kuniev is in the No. 7 range at 14-3-1 with one no-contest after stopping Tyrell Fortune in July. His October date with Volkov is the next ranking fight that can rearrange the top five. Vitor Petrino sits near No. 8 at 15-2 after a decision over Serghei Spivac in August.
Spivac is around No. 9 at 18-7. Ante Delija is No. 10 in the latest media table at 26-8, though he has been out since a February loss to Spivac. Valter Walker and Fortune occupy the next two slots, with Lewis, unbeaten Mario Pinto, and Aleksandar Rakic closing the official 15.
Pereira’s place depends on which list is used. The former two-division champion is 13-4 overall and 10-3 in the UFC after the Gane loss in his heavyweight debut, and the Meta rankings still have him inside the top five. The traditional media table has been slower to keep him that high after one fight at 265.
The title picture is now Gane first, then whoever the UFC wants to sell as the cleanest available challenge. Volkov has the body of work. Hokit has the momentum and the callout. Pereira has the name and a rematch request. Aspinall has asked only that he get a title fight when he is cleared, and that request is the one piece of unfinished business the ranking table cannot settle.
This Saturday’s UFC 331 card in Los Angeles does not host a ranked heavyweight title fight, but Gable Steveson meets Sean Sharaf on the main card and Tai Tuivasa faces Robelis Despaigne on the prelims. The ranked collision that matters next is Volkov-Kuniev on Oct. 24. Until Aspinall is healthy, the UFC heavyweight rankings run through Gane and the men lined up underneath him.