Hokit Aims to Bring the Heavyweight Title Back to the US
Josh Hokit gets his first UFC main event and first UFC title shot when he challenges Ciryl Gane for the undisputed heavyweight title on November 14, 2026, at Madison Square Garden in New York. Hokit, 10-0 and ranked No. 4 in the division, is looking to become the first American to hold the heavyweight belt since Jon Jones. A former NCAA wrestler who also spent time in the NFL before turning to MMA, Hokit has won four fights in seven months, three by knockout, most recently stopping Derrick Lewis in the second round at UFC Freedom 250. The promotion has described him as brash heading into the biggest fight of his career. Gane, 36, is 6-foot-5 and fights under the nickname Bon Gamin.
Gane Calls Becoming Champion Nothing Special
Gane became the undisputed heavyweight champion after Tom Aspinall vacated the title on September 14, 2026, citing ongoing complications from the eye injury he suffered in his first fight against Gane, a UFC 321 bout in October 2025 that ended in a first-round no contest after an accidental eye poke. Aspinall has since had two surgeries on the right eye, been diagnosed with bilateral Brown’s syndrome, and was told to return for further scans in January before any decision on a fourth eye surgery overall. In his vacating statement, Aspinall wrote that stepping away from the title was not stepping away from the sport or the dream, and that the timing of his return was unclear. Gane, 14-2-1, had already won the interim title in June 2026 with a TKO of Alex Pereira at UFC Freedom 250 at the White House. Asked about picking up the undisputed belt by default, Gane played it down. “Nothing special, nothing challenging,” he said. “It’s not about to have the feeling of being a champion or not,” he said. “I’m in the race, and it’s not finished, so I just want to be focused on my next opponent and win fight after fight.”
Gane on the Long Wait and on Hokit
Gane acknowledged the difficulty of waiting more than a year between title fights. “It’s never easy,” he said. “In MMA, sometimes you must train more than a year because you’re waiting (for) a fight to make sense for everyone,” he said. He said he spent most of his camp since the Pereira fight preparing for Aspinall’s style specifically, while staying ready to adjust if his opponent changed. “That’s part of my job, to stay always ready, always in shape, so it is OK,” he said. “This is giving me more energy to go back to the gym, to my camp.” On Hokit’s wrestling and athletic background, Gane was measured rather than dismissive. “He’s light, more than me, and also, he’s an athlete,” Gane said. “He’s not maybe the best striker or even the best wrestler, but I think he has a good Fight IQ,” he said. Looking back at his past two title opponents, Gane said he has grown used to being doubted. “Against Alex Pereira and Tom, people underestimate me, but that’s the game, and I like it,” he said. “I just want to win this fight. That’s my mission.” “I know I’m ready, technically, tactically, physically, so I just need to be present, 100-percent present in the cage,” he said.
Fight Card and Broadcast
UFC 334 airs live on Paramount+, with the main card starting at 9 p.m. ET and 6 p.m. PT, after prelims at 7 p.m. ET and 4 p.m. PT and early prelims at 5 p.m. ET and 2 p.m. PT. In the co-main event, women’s bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison, 19-1, makes the first defense of her title against Amanda Nunes, 23-5, who returns after three years and five months away from the sport. Harrison won the belt by beating Julianna Peña, and Nunes remains the only woman in UFC history to have held titles in two weight classes at once. Harrison and Nunes trained together in the past at American Top Team in Florida.
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