Josh Hokit went on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani this week and talked about Ciryl Gane like the UFC 334 contract was a declaration of war with France. Helwani posted several clips from the interview on X on Tuesday. In them, Hokit lays out how he plans to beat Gane, says nothing is off limits, explains why he still lives in a dorm at Jackson Wink MMA, and says he already knows who he’ll call out after the fight.
The fight talk opened tamely enough. Hokit’s plan is pressure and fatigue. “He cannot run forever... I’ll get my hands on him one way or the other and then f***ing wear him out. Make him look like any other sloppy heavyweight,” he told Helwani.
Then he got to escalation. Hokit started with what he’d do if Gane poked him in the eye and kept going until he got to murder and international conquest. “He stabs me, I’m shooting him. He shoots me, I’m finding his family, killing them. He finds my family, kills them, I’m going to France, conquering them,” he said.
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In another clip, Hokit said he considers everything fair in war and that Gane signing the contract started one. “No line. F*** Gane and his mom. It is what it is,” he said, and added that the same rules would apply to him if Gane got the better of him. He framed it as a primal mentality he hasn’t let go of.
Hokit didn’t present any of this as an act that got away from him. He told Helwani he’s trusting his gut and has refused to play it safe. “When I’m on my deathbed, I’m gonna look back and regret that I didn’t go harder,” he said. He described his approach as throwing things at the wall and learning as he goes. Judging by Helwani’s opening post (“The freestyles are already flowing”), the interview also included some rapping.
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The dorm room
The more human part of the interview was about where Hokit sleeps. He said he still stays in the Jackson Wink dorms during camp, even after his recent success. “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 said.
He also gave practical reasons. The cages and open mat are right outside his door. He’s had the room for two years and keeps all his stuff there. He said moving in there is easier than buying a whole new house, there are fewer distractions, and he gets the altitude plus daily access to Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn.
Hokit also told Helwani he has a specific opponent in mind for his post-fight callout. Helwani’s clip teased the reveal, but the name isn’t in the posts, so we’ll find out at UFC 334 if he wins.
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My take: the France stuff will get the clicks, but the part that matters for the fight is “He cannot run forever.” Gane wins by moving, picking his shots and making bigger, slower men chase him into exhaustion. Hokit’s whole path is turning that into a grind, which means the question is his gas tank in Rounds 2 and 3. A fighter willing to sleep next to cockroaches to stay close to the mat has at least thought about conditioning. Whether that’s enough to catch Gane is what the price on this fight should be about. The family threats shouldn’t move it at all.