By Ciryl Gane survived a wild five-round battle with Josh Hokit to retain his UFC heavyweight championship Saturday night at UFC 334, and unsurprisingly, the chaotic main event at Madison Square Garden had the MMA world buzzing.
Gane defeated Hokit by unanimous decision, sweeping the judges' scorecards (48-47, 48-47, 48-47) in an electric back-and-forth affair to hand the previously undefeated American his first professional loss. The fight featured a relentless pace rarely seen at heavyweight, with Hokit taking control early before fading in the championship rounds.
As he tends to do in these situations, former UFC two-division champion Jon Jones was among those first to react to Saturday’s result, taking several swipes at Hokit over previous comments Hokit made about the future Hall of Famer.
Bro, I know it’s the craziest coincidence. Almost every single fighter that talks crap about me ends up losing the next fight. I swear it’s been that way for years. Weird.
— Jonny Meat (@JonnyBones) November 15, 2026
Who taught your boy how to wrestle? Impressive! https://t.co/bekbLpaymA
— Jonny Meat (@JonnyBones) November 15, 2026
I’m not gonna lie, it’s kind of nice. https://t.co/gfBGoLN0BM
— Jonny Meat (@JonnyBones) November 15, 2026
Jones, rather infamously, handled Gane with relative ease in their March 2023 title fight, submitting the Frenchman with a first-round submission.
Another former UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou — the sport’s lineal heavyweight king, who also defeated Gane in their January 2022 title unification bout — offered a much more congratulatory response to his former teammate.
Great war 🔥
Congratulations bon gamin! 👍🏽— Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) November 15, 2026
Gane's victory capped off UFC's latest voyage to Madison Square Garden, topping a UFC 334 card that also featured Kayla Harrison successfully defending her women's bantamweight title against all-time great Amanda Nunes in the co-main event.
Check out more reaction from around the MMA world to Gane vs. Hokit below.
Hokit got that “ UNK” fighting style 😂😂😂 this fighting style
Has a clock on it #UFC334— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunson) November 15, 2026
He’s a mad man. Hokit has taken the sting of Ganes shots already #UFC334
— Damien Brown (@beatdown155) November 15, 2026
If Hokit can avoid a KO Game will fall over from Exhaustion before 25 minutes is done
— Funky 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@Benaskren) November 15, 2026
Absolute war in the heavyweight main event at Madison Square Garden! #UFC334
— JOSH EMMETT (@JoshEmmettUFC) November 15, 2026
Hokit has mastered the bar fighting style and I’m here for it #UFC334
— Tatiana Suarez (@tatianaufc) November 15, 2026
Hokit is making Gane fight his fight and Gane is starting to look gassed. All the momentum for Hokit
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) November 15, 2026
There has never been a heavyweight pace like Hokit.
— Alan Jouban (@AlanJouban) November 15, 2026
This is insane 😂
— Sodiq Yusuff (@Super_Sodiq) November 15, 2026
Ganes eyes after R2 tell the story, he doesn’t think he can keep this pace…..
— Funky 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@Benaskren) November 15, 2026
Both trash 🗑️ I beat them
Both at the same time ! #UFC334— Johnny Walker (@JohnnyWalker) November 15, 2026
Hokit just not giving him to breathe. Unbelievable pressure and pace.
— Alan Jouban (@AlanJouban) November 15, 2026
I got Hokit up 3 rounds. First two were close but far out this is impressive. #UFC334
— Damien Brown (@beatdown155) November 15, 2026
Hokit is up 3-0 i think.He has kept this fight in the deep end since round one. Giving Gane zero breathing room.
Hokits game plan is to test the fight -championship heart, versus championship heart. #ufc334— Dominick Cruz (@DominickCruz) November 15, 2026
I don’t care what you all say. I love Josh Hokit!
— Matt Brown (@IamTheImmortal) November 15, 2026
😆
— Tim Elliott (@TElliott125) November 15, 2026
This is the most exciting UFC heavyweight fight I’ve ever watched! 🔥🦾⚔️ #UFC334
— Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili (@MerabDvalishvil) November 15, 2026
What a fight! #UFC334
— Tatiana Suarez (@tatianaufc) November 15, 2026
HEAVYWEIGHTS ARE VERY MUCH ALIVE. WHAT A FIGHT! 👏👏#UFC334
— Jeff Molina (@jmolina_125) November 15, 2026
This is the future of the heavyweight division, two in shape heavyweights who can scrap . RIP to the fat heavyweights ! #UFC334
— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunson) November 15, 2026
Respect to Hokit . Stellar performance! #UFC334
— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunson) November 15, 2026
How does a champ
Defend his belt walking backwards 5 rounds ? 🤣 #UFC334 shit 💩— Johnny Walker (@JohnnyWalker) November 15, 2026
What the hell did I just watch? 😂 These two guys tried to kill each other for 25 minutes. Crazy fight. Respect 🧃🔥 #ufc334
— Paulo Costa (@BorrachinhaMMA) November 15, 2026
I'm actually blown away Gane got that unanimous🤦🏻♂️ #UFC334
— Joe Joe Giannetti 💀 (@Giannettimma) November 15, 2026
Check out complete UFC 334 results and highlights from Uncrowned's fight-night event hub.
