Jorge Masvidal is putting serious money where his mouth usually is. The former BMF champion has placed a $200,000 bet on Josh Hokit to beat Ciryl Gane at UFC 334, and if Hokit pulls it off, Masvidal walks away with a $1 million payout. The wager was shared Monday night by @DovySimuMMA on X, credited to @UFConParamount.
Hokit goes into the fight as a heavy underdog, which is what makes the payout so fat. Some napkin math: if that $1 million figure includes the $200,000 stake, Masvidal grabbed something close to +400. If it’s pure profit on top, call it +500. Either way, the books are telling you they think Gane wins this most of the time, and Masvidal is telling the books they’re wrong.
Hokit’s Been Loud All Fight Week
Whatever the odds say about Hokit’s chances, nobody can accuse him of a quiet buildup. Asked on video why he’d beat Gane, Hokit gave a two-word answer that leaned on a crude insult instead of anything resembling a game plan. Dovy posted that clip about half an hour after the Masvidal news.
View post on X
That was hardly his only moment. Earlier in the month, Hokit told @TimwelchMT about a run-in with Gable Steveson, who apparently tried to shake his hand. Hokit wanted none of it and said he kept things respectful only because someone named Greg was standing right there. He added that Steveson was “lucky I got a fight in two weeks or it would be bad,” then piled on a few more insults for good measure.
He also showed up in a Spinnin Backfist clip slipping straight into character the moment he spotted Alex Pereira. And over the weekend, Joaquin Buckley dragged Hokit into a sprawling callout that also named Dustin Poirier, Max Holloway, Sean Strickland and Alexander Volkov. Buckley dared the group to walk into an all-black club, get in the DJ booth with no security and shout a racial slur. Strickland answered by calling Buckley a “black Karen” and added, “I bet you won’t go to the IRS and show them your tax returns.” Hokit’s response, if he had one, wasn’t in anything I saw.
View post on X
So heading into UFC 334, Hokit has picked fights with an Olympic gold medalist wrestler, a former champ’s personal space and pretty much anyone holding a camera. Gane, for his part, hasn’t turned up in any of this. That’s probably the smart play for the favorite.
Sal’s Take
I love a live underdog more than most guys love their kids, and I’ll never knock a man for taking plus money on a heavyweight fight, where one clean shot erases 14 minutes of getting outpointed. Still, please don’t tail this because a famous guy did it. Masvidal’s $200,000 tells you what Masvidal thinks. It tells you nothing about Hokit’s path to winning, and trash talk about Gane’s personal life won’t land a single punch on fight night. If you want Hokit, figure out why first. Can he close the distance, survive Gane’s footwork, and drag it somewhere ugly? If the answer is yes, take the number. If the answer is “Masvidal bet it,” keep your wallet in your pocket and enjoy watching somebody else’s $200,000 ride. I’ve been the guy with the big ticket on the underdog. The sweat is free when it’s not your money.
View post on X
