Ciryl Gane downs Josh Hokit to retain UFC heavyweight title

French fighter earns a unanimous decision victory in a thrilling five-round battle

NEW YORK:

UFC heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane of France successfully defended his title for the first time, sweeping the scorecards 48-47, 48-47, 48-47 against Josh Hokit in the main event of UFC 334 at Madison Square Garden in New York on Saturday night.
Round 1 saw Gane (15-2) get up quickly from an early takedown by Hokit (10-1), then land a few sharp jabs, uppercuts and an overhand right as he countered Hokit's forward pressure.
Hokit did, however, close the round with a slam with
just over 30 seconds remaining. Hokit came back in Round ⁠2. After Gane stuffed an early single-leg attempt,
Hokit pushed forward with determination, trading heavy right hands and clinching along the fence in a very physical exchange. Hokit carried that momentum into Round 3 with a scramble takedown, then worked Gane over with several clinch elbows and foot stomps before flashing him the middle finger at the bell. As Hokit's punches began to fade in Round ⁠4, Gane took control, countering the challenger's fence clinches with several body
kicks, knees to the midsection and short, dirty-boxing uppercuts. With the result still in the balance in Round 5, Gane stuffed Hokit's takedown attempts and opened a cut just above his left eye, then dominated the striking
with jabs, body shots and multi-punch combinations through the end of the round. Gane kept ⁠things simple after the fight, as did the typically brash Hokit. "It was ⁠an amazing fight," Gane said. Hokit said he'd enjoy the moment, even if he was on the receiving end. "Resiliency builds character," Hokit said. Kayla Harrison returned after a 10-month layoff for an injury that required
neck and spinal fusion surgery, securing a fourth-round rear-naked choke at 1:29 against former two-division UFC women's champion Amanda Nunes.
The co-main event victory gave Harrison her first UFC women's bantamweight title defense, spoiling Nunes' return following a nearly four-year retirement. Harrison (20-1) admitted she wasn't sure what was next for her but took a moment to acknowledge ⁠the audience.
"New York City, I love you," Harrison said after the fight. Nunes (23-6) took her gloves off but did not make herself available for ⁠a
post-fight interview. Middleweights took center stage next, as Brazil's Caio Borralho remained in title contention after defeating Holland's Yousri Belgaroui by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27). Borralho (19-2) has won back-to-back fights, while Belgaroui (11-4) saw his six-fight winning streak halted. In the welterweight division, Kevin Holland and Serbia's Uros Medic fought to a majority draw after 15 minutes, with scorecards of 29-27, 28-28 and 28-28.
Initial confusion followed when Octagon announcer Bruce Buffer misread the scores. One judge scored the fight for Holland (29-15-1), while the other two had it even against Medic (14-3-1). The bout featured several submission attempts, ⁠high-paced striking and clean clinch work.
It remains unclear whether the UFC will book a rematch. At flyweight, Luis Gurule pulled off one of the UFC's biggest upsets of the year, defeating Indonesia's Bilal Hasan by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28).
An aggressive pace and active wrestling kept the previously unbeaten Hasan (10-1) off balance after a productive opening round. After the win, Gurule (12-4) jokingly criticized ChatGPT for picking against him at Thursday's pre-fight press conference, when Hasan did the honors. Gurule was a major underdog at most sportsbooks entering the bout, earning the second win of his UFC career to open the main card