Chael Sonnen spent years as one of the louder skeptics of Ciryl Gane. Now he’s handing out flowers, and the timing tells you something about how he sees the UFC 334 main event against Josh Hokit at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 14.
“Ciryl Gane is much better than I knew that he was,” Sonnen told MMA Junkie. “I did not understand the level of greatness we were looking at. But now that he’s got two interim titles and an undisputed title, I’m starting to get it.”
That’s a real reversal, and I’d argue it’s the correct one. The more useful part of the interview, though, is what Sonnen said about Hokit. He identified exactly where this fight gets decided, and it’s a fair bit narrower than the usual wrestler versus striker framing.
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Why the Gane doubts stuck around
Gane (14-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC) has a résumé that’s easy to pick at if you’re in the mood. He lost his first title shot to Francis Ngannou at UFC 270 in January 2022. He fell apart in his second against Jon Jones at UFC 285 in March 2023. Then came the strangest route to undisputed status I can remember. His October 2025 fight with then-champion Tom Aspinall ended in a no contest after Gane’s eye pokes stopped it. Aspinall still hasn’t fully recovered nearly a year later, and he vacated the belt in September. That moved Gane, who had won the interim title by TKO over Alex Pereira at UFC Freedom 250, up to undisputed champion.
So yes, the belt arrived with an asterisk-shaped cloud over it, and the fouls didn’t help his reputation. But two losses at heavyweight, both to all-time names, plus a TKO of Pereira, is a strong body of work for a 36-year-old who got to the division’s top tier quickly. Sonnen saying he finally gets it reads less like a pundit softening and more like a guy looking at the full ledger.
The takedown question Sonnen keeps circling
Hokit (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) will be just over a year removed from his UFC debut when he walks out at MSG. He’s 28, unbeaten, and moving fast. Sonnen’s read on him starts with two names on his record.
“When Josh fought Derrick Lewis there was a big question of: If he needs a takedown, can he get it? Cause with Curtis Blaydes he didn’t really try,” Sonnen said. “So the question becomes, if he had tried, could he have got it? I think he answered that.”
Sonnen’s conclusion is that Hokit can get a takedown if he needs one. Then he pivots to the point I’d underline twice: “But the threat of that takedown is paramount to everything else, though. I think Josh right away needs to make Ciryl worry about the wrestling.”
This is the most coachable insight in the whole conversation. A heavyweight who fears the shot changes how he stands, how far he commits on his kicks, how long he lingers in the pocket after a combination. If Gane spends the first five minutes thinking about his hips, his offense shrinks. If he doesn’t, he gets to fight his fight, and Sonnen is blunt that Gane is “very good” and “very experienced.” The one thing he isn’t, per Sonnen, is a wrestler.
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Then the Gable Steveson comparison: “The weapon only counts if you can make your opponent believe that you’re going to use it.”
That’s the whole fight in one sentence. Wrestling credentials don’t score anything on their own. Hokit has to show level changes early in Round 1, finish at least one of them or come close enough that Gane feels it, and keep the threat alive into the later rounds so the feints start working. A wrestler who waits until Round 3 to shoot, after he’s already down two rounds on the feet, is asking a 36-year-old with five-round title experience to make a mistake he doesn’t usually make.
The promotional side
There’s a second conversation happening around this fight. Bloody Elbow posted on X a story headlined with the claim that Hokit becoming UFC champion will cost the promotion fans, attributing the warning to a former commentator. The post itself didn’t lay out the reasoning, so I won’t put arguments in anyone’s mouth. Whatever the case for that worry, it doesn’t change what happens inside the cage, and the cage is where Sonnen’s analysis is sharpest.
My pick
I’m taking Gane. Hokit has answered the “can he get it” question to Sonnen’s satisfaction, but answering it against Lewis is a different exam than making an experienced champion believe in the shot from the opening exchange. If Hokit hits an early takedown and Gane starts reacting to feints by the midpoint of Round 1, I’ll happily eat this pick. My bet is Gane stays patient, the wrestling threat never becomes credible enough to bend his game, and he defends the belt for the first time on Nov. 14 with the kind of performance that finally retires the asterisk.
