Josh Hokit opened his first faceoff with Ciryl Gane by looking up at him and finding him smaller than advertised. The heavyweight champion and his challenger came nose to nose in Times Square on Tuesday ahead of their title fight at UFC 334, and Hokit did nearly all the talking.
According to the exchange posted by Championship Rounds on X, Hokit told Gane, “I thought you’d be taller. I’d still dunk on your b*tch ass. Zebi.” Gane, apparently more curious than offended, came back with “Zebi? What does it mean.” Hokit offered no translation. “You know exactly what that means,” he said. MMA Junkie and the UFC’s own account both posted footage of the two trading words, and Spinnin Backfist had its clip of the staredown up before most of the crowd had cleared the square.
The night belonged to more than one pair. Amanda Nunes and Kayla Harrison, who meet for the bantamweight title in the co-main event, also faced off in Times Square. Theirs went quieter. MMA Junkie described the two exchanging serious stares, which feels about right for two women who don’t need a microphone to sell a fight. The UFC billed that one as “Legends Collide.”
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A week of Hokit being Hokit
The Times Square jabs were the latest in a run of material from Hokit this fight week. Speaking with Ariel Helwani, he laid out a chain of escalating retaliation for any foul Gane might try, starting with an eye poke and a shot to the back of the head before spiraling into stabbing, shooting and, finally, “going to France and conquering them.” A day earlier, Spinnin Backfist posted a clip of Hokit slipping straight into character when he ran into Poatan.
The detail from fight week that stuck with me came from that same Helwani conversation, and it had nothing to do with trash talk. Hokit still lives in the dorms at Jackson Wink during camp, in a room he took two years ago, even with his recent success. He said the conditions keep him honest: “There’s something about a cockroach crawling across the floor, a crackhead outside keeping you up at night, that reminds you of how it all started for you.” He also pointed to the convenience of walking out his door onto the mats, the altitude, and the coaching of Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn.
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UFC 334 takes place Saturday, November 14, at Madison Square Garden, with the main card starting at 9 p.m. ET on Paramount+.
Quick take
Hokit can talk, and he knows it, but the line that tells you most about him is the one about the cockroach. A guy who keeps sleeping in a gym dorm when he could buy a house has decided where his edge comes from, and it isn’t the microphone. Gane’s response was the most interesting thing he did all night. He stood there, asked a plain question, and let the insult bounce off him like a word in a language he didn’t care to learn. Saturday at the Garden, one of them will find out whether the dorm room or the calm travels better into the cage.
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