Long-time UFC heavyweight contender Alexander Volkov blasted the world’s leading MMA promotion over its upcoming heavyweight title bout.

Volkov wanted to fight for the belt against UFC heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane, but the organization opted to go with Josh Hokit instead in the UFC 334 main event, a decision that has made Volkov extremely upset, as he now thinks the UFC heavyweight belt has lost its meaning.

Alexander Volkov Angry About UFC 334 Main Event

Speaking to MMAFighting.com, Volkov made it clear how angry he is about the upcoming UFC 334 main event.

“Is Ciryl Gane a real champion right now? He is real if he has a belt. But what means his belt right now? This is the question. Maybe it loses the meaning all fans want it to have. Like, we want to trust it’s the most powerful, skilled fighter in the world. As, for example, it was like K-1 in the past, when you just fought eight fighters like the same day. It was a show, but the main thing was just fighting, you know? But now we can get fights, title shots (for) just being more famous, and doesn’t matter how you (became) famous. It doesn’t matter what you do, and you took the fight just because most people know you and they want you to be beaten or win the fight,” Volkov said.

“The belt has the meaning of the fighter who has it right now. If we talk about Gane, he has the belt. We can see he is a champion for having this belt. So 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. Now, the meaning of the belt is the same. Then he will fight with a with a guy who is just very loud right now, kind of showman. If he would take this belt, the meaning of the belt is that now you should be a showman to get the belt.

“But (one day) it will be about a fighter who just can beat everybody, not speak a lot, do it like there’s no cheating or something like that, and be just a martial artist. This belt will have this meaning. If I will have the belt, the belt will have meaning.”

Alexander Volkov Fighting at UFC 333

If Volkov wants to prove to the UFC that it’s he who should be next in line to fight for the heavyweight belt against the winner of Gane vs. Hokit, then he not only needs to win this fight, but he has to win it in impressive fashion.

We’ll see how this fight plays out later today, but based on how critical Volkov has been towards the UFC as of late, he better go out there and back up his words.