Jason Burgos
On Saturday night at UFC 328, Alexander Volkov and Waldo Cortes-Acosta faced off in a main card clash with big ramifications. The winner of their scrap would thrust their names right into the title contender conversation for this fall.
After three very hard-fought rounds, the Russian used his length and leg kicks to outpoint the Dominican and scored his 14th win inside the Octagon, and 40th overall. Let’s see where they land in our new heavyweight rankings after UFC 328.
10. Tyrell Fortune (18-3)
Multi-time wrestling champion Tyrell Fortune was a top prospect for Bellator in the promotion’s final years of existence. But after two appearances in PFL, he took his talents to the MMA regional scene to build his resume for a shot in the UFC.
Well, he got that opportunity in the Octagon in March 2026 and made the most of it by scoring a big decision win over rankings stalwart Marcin Tybura. The victory earns him a spot in our latest UFC heavyweight top 10.
9. Rizvan Kuniev (14-3-1)
PFL and Contender Series veteran Rizvan Kuniev lands in our UFC heavyweight rankings after he scored the biggest win of his career with a hard-fought victory over Jailton Almeida during his February 2025 debut in the Octagon. While it wasn’t pretty, he proved he can compete with top-10 talent.
8. Serghei Spivac (18-6)
Serghei Spivac has remained a consistent top-15-level fighter at heavyweight for the last five years. While he has lost six times inside the Octagon, his most recent setbacks have come to elite competition like Tom Aspinall, Waldo Cortes-Acosta, and Ciryl Gane. However, he also has quite a few big wins against big-name or ranked foes.
He scored another in February when he earned a very hard-fought win over talented finisher Ante Delija. His latest win stopped a potential losing skid and got him back in our top 10.
7. Curtis Blaydes (19-6)
While Curtis Blaydes has had some tough losses during his career, he has remained a top-five level heavyweight for much of the last decade by scoring wins over fighters like Junior dos Santos, Alexander Volkov, and Jailton Almeida during his tenure in the UFC.
However, in a UFC 327 scrap where he was a sizable favorite, the 35-year-old chose to engage Josh Hokit in a brawl, and it led to a surprise upset loss. It’s hard to imagine “Razor” ever fighting for UFC gold again.
6. Josh Hokit (9-0)
Heading into his scrap at UFC 327, few even knew who Josh Hokit was. However, his bizarre antics during fight week drew a lot of attention to the talented wrestler, but mostly for the wrong reasons. Nevertheless, on fight night, he still had the opportunity to earn top 10 status in a clash with Curtis Blaydes.
While it wasn’t a technical display, Hokit showed an impressive chin and guts as he stunned the MMA world by outlasting Blaydes in a Fight of the Night war. His third straight win in the Octagon lands him a spot in our latest top 10 and on the radar of UFC fans around the world.
5. Waldo Cortes Acosta (17-3)
Dominican big man Waldo Cortes Acosta has quietly become a serious force in the heavyweight division. In his 13 bouts inside the Octagon, he has posted 10 wins, including against some notable talents in the top 15, including at UFC 324 against fan-favorite Derrick Lewis.
In May, he got a chance to potentially become the No. 1 contender in a UFC 328 clash with Alexander Volkov. However, the Dominican was unable to figure out the Russian’s distance game and suffered a frustrating decision loss.
4. Sergei Pavlovich (20-3)
Sergei Pavlovich has been an absolute crushing machine during much of his UFC career. After a loss to Alistair Overeem in his debut, he reeled off six straight wins, and all of those victories came by way of a devastating knockout. However, a two-fight losing streak stopped all of his momentum. But he has righted the ship in 2025 and scored a pair of decision wins. The most recent was against Waldo Cortes-Acosta in Shanghai.
3. Alexander Volkov (40-11)
Alexander Volkov has been a top-level MMA heavyweight for a long time. While he has been unable to earn a UFC title shot, he has remained a stalwart of the top 10 for years. Hovering around the title contender conversation over the last couple of years.
However, at UFC 328, he might have locked up a title opportunity in the near future when he was able to outwork and outpoint surging Dominican star Waldo Cortes-Acosta to score an important unanimous decision win.
2. Ciryl Gane (13-2)
Ciryl Gane is a fantastic athlete and the most technical heavyweight striker in the sport. It is why he is consistently in the title discussion. However, his wrestling deficiencies continue to be a problem, and they showed up again in his UFC 310 clash with Alexander Volkov. Fortunately for “Bon Gamin,” he was able to escape with a decision win.
The victory earned him a title opportunity at UFC 321. However, the good luck he had against Volkov turned to bad, and his chance at winning UFC gold again was stopped after just a few minutes when he poked champ Tom Aspinall in both eyes and caused a fight-ending no-contest.
1. Tom Aspinall (14-3)
Englishman Tom Aspinall is the best heavyweight in the UFC. That became official when MMA GOAT Jon Jones decided to walk away from the sport earlier this year. The Englishman has beaten many of the best fighters in the division for the last three years and is the undisputed top big man in the eyes of most UFC fans.
After definitively avenging the lone loss of his UFC career in the summer of 2024, he made his first defense of the undisputed title in October. Unfortunately, a nasty eye poke from opponent Ciryl Game ended the UFC 321 main event after just a few minutes. An immediate rematch early in 2026 seems likely.
