Ciryl Gane Faces Josh Hokit for Heavyweight Title at UFC 334
Ciryl Gane and Josh Hokit are set to meet for the UFC heavyweight championship on Nov. 14 at Madison Square Garden.
The matchup headlines UFC 334, scheduled for Saturday night in New York and slated for Paramount+ at 9 p.m. ET.
The event graphic lists Gane as champion against the No. 4 heavyweight. Hokit is undefeated at 10-0 and has climbed the division with stoppages of Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis.
Tom Aspinall vacated the undisputed belt after complications from an eye injury. UFC CEO Dana White said last week that Gane would not be handed undisputed status without another fight.
This is that fight as presented on the UFC 334 poster.
Gane last fought in June at UFC Freedom 250, where he stopped Alex Pereira to keep the interim strap. His record stands at 14-2 with one no-contest against Aspinall.
Hokit has won all four of his UFC bouts. The former college football player and wrestler has made his name by walking forward and finishing fights.
A Garden title fight gives him the biggest stage of his career.
The co-main event is equally loaded. Women’s bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison defends against Amanda Nunes.
Harrison won the 135-pound title by submitting Julianna Peña at UFC 316. Nunes came out of retirement to chase that belt.
The pairing was first targeted for January at UFC 324. Harrison withdrew after a neck injury that required surgery, and the fight was pushed again.
November in New York is the new date on the poster.
Nunes left the UFC as a two-division champion. A win would put the Lioness back on the throne she vacated in 2023.
Harrison has not lost in the UFC. The two-time Olympic judo gold medalist has treated every opponent like a grappling problem she already solved.
The rest of the announced five-fight slate fills out a numbered card that now looks like a pay-per-view main card even before the undercard is complete.
No. 5 middleweight Caio Borralho meets Yousri Belgaroui.
Borralho is 18-2 and coming off a decision win over Reinier de Ridder. He dropped a five-round decision to Nassourdine Imavov last year and has stayed inside the top five.
Belgaroui is 3-0 in the UFC with three knockouts, the latest a first-round TKO at Noche UFC. The 6-foot-6 former Glory kickboxer has not been finished in MMA.
At welterweight, No. 12 Uros Medic draws Kevin Holland.
Medic has stacked first-round knockouts, including a 30-second finish of Daniel Rodriguez. Holland remains one of the division’s most booked veterans and just beat Randy Brown earlier this year.
The flyweight opener pairs undefeated prospect Bilal Hasan with Luis Gurule.
Hasan is 10-0 after a Contender Series knockout and a second-round KO in his UFC debut at Shanghai. Gurule is 11-4 and coming off a first-round submission loss to Rei Tsuruya.
Two titles, a Garden date, and a Paramount+ window give UFC 334 a clear identity before more names are added.
Gane has to win to settle the heavyweight argument White refused to settle on paper. Hokit has to win to turn a loud rise into a championship.
Harrison and Nunes have waited through injury and retirement talk for the same cage. The rest of the card now has eight weeks to get ready for New York.