UFC 334: Сирил Ган болон Жош Хокит нарын аваргын төлөөх шийдвэрлэх тулаан

UFC 334 is nearly here, with Madison Square Garden set to host the next heavyweight title tilt and the long-awaited return of two of the best at women’s bantamweight.

After Tom Aspinall vacated his title in September, the UFC arrived at Ciryl Gane vs. Josh Hokit for the now highly disputed “undisputed” heavyweight championship — opening the door for, hopefully, some consistency atop the division for the first time in five years.

The co-main event spotlight, meanwhile, shines on returning UFC Hall of Famer Amanda Nunes, who aims to dethrone her ever-dominant ex-teammate, Kayla Harrison.

UFC 334 looks about as good as it can be for the promotion’s annual New York City visit. Even so, it’s still heavily watered down in a variety of ways, mostly because of the circumstances surrounding the heavyweight division in recent years.

👑 UFC 334’s lineup Crown grade: C+. 👑

265 pounds: Ciryl Gane (-205) vs. Josh Hokit (+170)

The code to beat Gane has seemingly been cracked, as I highlighted before his Alex Pereira win: If you can’t take the Frenchman down, you’re going to lose.

It happened in both of Gane’s losses against Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones. Outside of that, the nimble, tactical striker has handled everyone in front of him with relative ease — except Alexander Volkov in their rematch, who, coincidentally, had great success on the ground and should have earned the decision win. (Yes, I still remember record-tying loser Tai Tuivasa cracking Gane for a near knockout in their 2022 clash, but that shouldn’t be too big of a concern, and we’ll get to why momentarily.)

Comparing careers, it’s not even a question that Gane has had the better run between him and Josh Hokit, with the champ having faced far stiffer competition. Unlike, let’s say, Curtis Blaydes, Gane also won’t willingly engage in a bonkers firefight for three rounds. He’s far too crafty and smart to fall victim to that level of chaos, even if Hokit pursues it.

So, how does Hokit beat his toughest test to date? Well, a wrestling-heavy game plan is a great start, but it’s also very unlikely, given how Hokit has built himself in and out of the cage to this point. Hokit’s strengths are his speed and durability at heavyweight, however that shouldn’t matter much against a bigger man like Gane, who has the same qualities but with far superior striking technique.

Hokit’s best hope is to bull-rush Gane, avoid getting tagged in the process, and put Gane on his butt. And going back to any comparisons of Tuivasa’s knockdown of Gane, we’ve seen Hokit display a questionable gas tank. Admittedly, that could be from how he’s thrown with reckless abandon in fights like the Blaydes brawl, but even his win over Derrick Lewis left plenty to be desired from a world title challenger.

Love him or hate him, a Hokit win on Saturday would be a much bigger upset than the oddsmakers are giving it credit for here.

Pick: Gane

135 pounds: Kayla Harrison (-190) vs. Amanda Nunes (+160)

The alleged biggest women’s fight of all time is taking a backseat to the most fraudulent UFC title the promotion has arguably ever handed out.

But that’s beside the point! Harrison vs. Nunes breathes incredibly — if temporary — life into the corpse of the 135-pound weight class, pitting two very dominant forces against each other. That’s assuming everyone is in full form.

To a degree, I still feel the same about this matchup after — and because of — all the delay in getting to it. Initially my expectation was that if Nunes came in anything like she was prior to her 2023 retirement, she’d have her way with Harrison. At this juncture, though, Harrison has undergone pretty severe neck surgery, and despite the procedure and her year-long recovery, she admitted to still having some bulging disks to take care of down the line. Had she fixed all of them, Harrison said, she would’ve had to retire.

I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a less-than-ideal position to be in for a fight with the person many consider to be the greatest of all time.

Plain and simple, it’s another one of those cases like the main event where Nunes has fought and beaten far superior competition throughout her career, while possessing more tools to win a fight. She can finish in any fashion, often battering opponents on the feet with disgusting leg kicks and brick-like punches. If she gets you to the mat, that too can quickly spell a prolonged disaster or trouble-saving submission.

Everything I just wrote is also true for judo master Harrison; she just hasn’t ever fought someone like Nunes, who can threaten with such high-level submissions.

It’s a wildly compelling fight, maybe even more so because of all the outside-the-cage factors. That said, Nunes’ hiatus has probably been more beneficial for her than Harrison’s.

Pick: Nunes

185 pounds: Caio Borralho (-155) vs. Yousri Belgaroui (+130)

The unranked Yousri Belgaroui is being catapulted into a massive opportunity here, but it isn’t exactly unearned after five stoppages over his past six appearances. Belgaroui is a former kickboxer who’s finally translated well to the MMA game after an OK start in his first eight fights. He’s long and large for the division, and knows how to use all eight points of contact.

Now, I’m getting admittedly bold by going against Caio Borralho in this one. Prior to being shut down by Nassourdine Imavov, Borralho was looking like one hell of a contender. The strong grappler nullified plenty of opponents and even evolved his striking to the point where he outgunned Jared Cannonier.

Borralho has since rebounded nicely from the Imavov loss with a hard-fought win over Reinier de Ridder this past March. Body-wise, “RDR” is certainly similar to Belgaroui, but Belgaroui’s striking acumen is far stronger. It’s a tough matchup to call, but Belgaroui’s momentum is hard to beat right now.

Pick: Belgaroui

Ed Mulholland via Getty Images

170 pounds: Uroš Medić (-155) vs. Kevin Holland (+130)

This matchup is completely absurd and illogical.

We’re talking about Uroš Medić, the guy who just blasted Daniel Rodriguez in 30 seconds to extend his win streak to four, all by knockout. You’d think that would be the perfect recipe for a well-earned step-up into a top-10 bout.

Nope. Instead, Medić gets Kevin Holland, who is 1-2 in his last three, including a loss to Rodriguez.

Make it make sense.

Stylistically, this fight does offer the possibility of being wild, but almost demands it to be for Holland to have a chance. At this stage, “Trailblazer” has admitted he doesn’t even care about fighting to get a title. He’s just here for the money. Compare that to a hungry, determined, dynamite-handed Medić, and it’d be shocking if the Serbian doesn’t batter his way to a victory.

Pick: Medić

125 pounds: Bilal Hasan (−1100) vs. Luis Gurule (+700)

Another UFC event, another showcase bout main-card opener. This trend has become oh-so-blatantly apparent this year.

Bilal Hasan is being fast-tracked to UFC superstardom. Not in the sense of getting shot through the ranks to a quick title shot, but by being fed perfect matchups to reach contender status impressive enough that he’ll be a notable name by then. And to be fair, the guy has been a dynamic finishing sensation, stopping all but one of his opponents.

Luis Gurule, on the other hand, got into the UFC off a Contender Series split decision and then lost three straight before saving his job with a unanimous decision win over Daniel Barez. After that, he succumbed to a first-round rear-naked choke against Rei Tsuruya.

I don’t want to say Gurule is exactly a “slouch,” but it’s obvious (again) what UFC is doing here.

Pick: Hasan

Preliminary Notes

There’s actually plenty to like on the UFC 334 prelims, which is a nice change of pace from the weekly events.

Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson is finally calling it a career, and gets a tailor-made matchup to shine on his way out. Chris Duncan and Melquizael Costa are both seeking big rebound wins against veterans after main event losses. Jim Miller is ready to do more Jim Miller things in a ridiculous pairing with Terrance McKinney.

Last but not least, premier women’s bantamweight prospect Bea Mesquita somehow dwells in the depths of the prelims against perennial contender Macy Chiasson. Despite the burial for each woman, this is a pivotal fight for the division, given the title is on the line in the co-main event.

Quick picks:

• Stephen Thompson (-145) def. Charles Radtke (+120)

• Chris Duncan (-160) def. Drew Dober (+135)

• Jim Miller (+170) def. Terrance McKinney (-205)

• Donte Johnson (-175) def. César Almeida (+145)

• Melquizael Costa (-370) def. Jared Gordon (+290)

• Beatriz Mesquita (-260) def. Macy Chiasson (+210)

• Aletengheili (N/A) def. Juan Diaz (N/A)

• Samuel Sanches (-120) def. Evan Elder (+100)