Challenger Josh Hokit, who arrived at the press conference in an eye patch and goggles in a reference to Ciryl Gane’s past eye-poke fouls, taunted the champion. Gane stayed calm, and UFC president Dana White stepped in at the end.
Dana White had to separate Ciryl Gane and Josh Hokit after a second tense face-off during fight week at Madison Square Garden. Hokit, 28, wore an eye patch, protective goggles and a towel on the back of his head to Thursday evening’s press conference, a nod to Gane’s earlier fouls. He aimed repeated verbal jabs at the 36-year-old Frenchman, much to the crowd’s delight. Gane, the heavyweight champion, brushed off most of it. The pair will headline UFC’s penultimate premium numbered event of the year, which airs in the early hours of Sunday morning UK time.
The press conference
The event took place at the Infosys Theater. Hokit, known as “The Incredible”, made several crude comments about Gane’s mother and tried to turn the crowd against him. After the press conference, White squared the two off for a second face-off. They stared intently into each other’s eyes before White pulled them apart. The crowd lapped it up.
According to MMA Fighting, White said he was not a fan of Hokit’s promotional antics, describing them as a “schtick”. He nevertheless defended the decision to give Hokit a title shot after only four UFC wins. MMA Fighting also reported that Hokit stood up when former two-division champion Alex Pereira appeared in the front row, raised his middle finger and challenged him verbally. Hokit had previously insulted Pereira and floated the idea of fighting him. Hokit also told the New York crowd that the fight would end Gane’s career. No disciplinary action was reported.
Responding to criticism that he had jumped the heavyweight queue, Hokit said, according to MMA Fighting via Yahoo Sports: “All the shenanigans aside, I’m the one in this division putting on good fights.”
How the fight came about
The bout will be Gane’s first defence of the heavyweight title. He won the interim belt in June by stopping Pereira in the second round at the White House. That set up a unification fight with Britain’s Tom Aspinall, which was due to headline this weekend’s card. It fell through in September after Aspinall suffered a setback in his recovery from several eye surgeries. Those operations followed Gane’s double eye poke in their fight in Abu Dhabi last October. Aspinall chose to vacate the belt instead of holding up the division, and Gane was elevated to full champion.
Hokit on fouls and his persona
Hokit posted a video on Instagram on 11 November showing him training blindfolded, captioned “I think we are ready”. POP MMA reported that he told The Ariel Helwani Show on 10 November that he would retaliate if he was poked in the eye. That was a pre-fight statement and not evidence that either fighter intends to break the rules. MMA Fighting noted that Alexander Volkov and Jairzinho Rozenstruik have raised concerns after facing Gane, and that Pereira later criticised blows he considered illegal in their June fight. Those are fighters’ allegations, not proof of deliberate fouling.
The Associated Press reported on 12 November that Hokit said he did not regret vulgar and unfounded remarks he made about Michelle Obama at a June UFC event on the White House South Lawn, though he acknowledged they were inappropriate. He said Donald Trump had shared cartoon images of him afterwards. CBS Sports reported that Hokit said he had deliberately adopted a villain-style persona, partly as a calculated performance.
Gane’s preparation
In an interview published by UFC on 12 November, Gane said his team kept much of the grappling work built for Aspinall. He said defending the belt felt no different from his earlier title challenges, and that the key would be maintaining concentration. He added that he considered himself ready technically, tactically and physically.
The numbers
Gane has a professional record of 14-2, with 11 UFC wins and two previous undisputed title challenges. Hokit is 10-0, with four UFC wins and nine finishes, six by knockout and three by submission. If he wins, MMA Junkie says he would become the 18th undefeated fighter to win a UFC title, just over a year after his debut on 8 November 2025. He reached the title fight by beating Curtis Blaydes by unanimous decision at UFC 327 in April and stopping Derrick Lewis in the second round, at 4:09, at UFC Freedom 250 in June.
Cain Velasquez, the former heavyweight champion, has backed Hokit’s wrestling, striking and physical ability to compete, MMA Mania reported on 12 November. Coach Eric Nicksick said in a UFC discussion that Hokit should cut off the cage and chain takedowns together, but questioned whether he can maintain pressure against a bigger opponent over five rounds.
Hokit played for the San Francisco 49ers’ practice squad in 2020 and 2021, according to his UFC biography, and wrestled against Bo Nickal at the 2019 NCAA Championships while at Fresno State. He told UFC on 11 November that he began wrestling at four and playing football at seven, and that he wants to defend the title often if he wins.
Card changes and UK times
Adrian Yanez withdrew from his bantamweight bout with Juan Diaz through injury, and Alatengheili will replace him. The lightweight fight between Nazim Sadykhov and Jefferson Nascimento was cancelled. The co-main event sees Amanda Nunes return after about three years to challenge Kayla Harrison for the women’s bantamweight title.
The ceremonial weigh-ins are on Friday at 10pm GMT, the early prelims on Saturday at 10pm, the prelims at midnight and the main card at 2am on Sunday. The main-event time has not been confirmed.
