Robert Whittaker gives Josh Hokit no shot at dethroning Ciryl Gane at UFC 334 on November 14 at Madison Square Garden. The former middleweight champion made his pick on the Submission Radio podcast, days before Gane’s fourth run at the undisputed heavyweight title.
Whittaker Shuts the Door on Hokit’s Title Hopes
Asked point blank about Hokit’s chances, Robert Whittaker did not hedge: “No shot. Zero.” The former champion pointed to Ciryl Gane‘s striking, which he rates among the best in the UFC right now. “I think Gane’s striking would have to be up there with some of the best in the UFC at the moment,” Whittaker said, adding that Gane can still move at speed while carrying roughly 260 pounds (120 kilograms) of power behind his strikes.
Whittaker also argued the heavyweight division has thinned out, letting fighters climb the rankings faster if they know how to generate attention. He put Hokit in that new wave of quicker, more mobile heavyweights, built in part on self-promotion, strong performances and finishes, including a rap clip aimed at Gane and other UFC figures.
He did leave Hokit one opening. “I would be interested to see if Hokit really doubles down on his wrestling background and takes it to the ground and what happens there,” Whittaker said, noting that Gane has yet to face a real test of his own wrestling and ground game inside the Octagon.
Hokit’s Unbeaten Climb to a Heavyweight Title Shot
A former Division I wrestler at Fresno State, where he earned All-American honors, Josh Hokit carries a 10-0 professional record, with six wins by knockout or TKO and three by submission. He reached the UFC through Dana White’s Contender Series, finishing Guilherme Uriel by TKO in 2025 to earn his contract.
His climb accelerated fast. He stopped Denzel Freeman by TKO at UFC 324 in January, then outworked Curtis Blaydes over three bloody rounds at UFC 327 in April, a win that earned Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night bonuses and set a UFC heavyweight record for significant strikes landed in a three-round fight. In June, on the same card where Gane won his interim belt, Hokit finished former title challenger Derrick Lewis by second-round TKO. That run pushed him into the top five of the UFC’s heavyweight rankings within a single calendar year. A fighter few outside the sport had heard of twelve months ago is now one win from heavyweight gold, and he has made sure nobody forgets it, trading barbs with Gane in the build-up to New York.
Gane’s Fourth Run at Undisputed Gold
Ciryl Gane became the first Frenchman to hold UFC gold back in 2021, before Francis Ngannou beat him to unify the heavyweight title. He returned to interim champion status in June with a second-round knockout of Brazil’s Alex Pereira, in a bout staged inside an octagon built at the White House. The undisputed belt has eluded him three times since that first run: he lost a decision to Ngannou at UFC 270, was submitted by Jon Jones, and saw his UFC 321 bout with Tom Aspinall overturned to a no-contest after an accidental eye poke. Aspinall has since vacated the undisputed title entirely, citing lingering problems with that eye, leaving it up for grabs at UFC 334.
Whittaker’s one caveat centers on that gap in Gane’s resume. His lone finish loss by submission, to Jones, remains the clearest data point on his ground game, and Whittaker says Hokit’s wrestling pedigree is the only path he can see to an upset, provided the challenger commits to it rather than trading strikes.
Masvidal Sees It Differently
Not everyone on the podcast agreed with Whittaker. Jorge Masvidal picked Hokit to win, saying he expects the wrestling to be the deciding factor against Gane. UFC 334 will also see Kayla Harrison put her women’s bantamweight title on the line against Amanda Nunes in the co-main event.
The main card goes live at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT on Paramount+, included with a standard subscription at no extra pay-per-view cost. Fans in the United Kingdom and central Europe can catch it in the early hours of November 15.
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