A heavyweight title bout between champion Ciryl Gane and the undefeated No. 5 ranked Josh Hokit headlines the UFC 334 fight card on Nov. 14. It will be Gane’s first title defense since being elevated from interim champion to undisputed titleholder.
With the event a couple of weeks away, fighters and analysts are weighing in on the matchup. Former middleweight champion Chris Weidman gave his take on the matchup and believes Hokit will dethrone the champion.
“I think Hokit is fine. I think he’s good, bro. He’s tough. He’s good on the feet and we’ve seen him rag doll people in wrestling,” Weidman said on Deep Waters. “I think he wrestles in this fight. He gets close. And he has that Cain Velasquez like control on top where he’ll just shift your weight, move your hips around clock you. It wears on these guys.”
Hokit is 6’1 and 231 pounds. Gane is 6’5 and 250. Weidman the size difference could come into play, but still picked Hokit to win.
“The size difference is going to be interesting because that’s the thing is even with Derrick Lewis, it wasn’t super easy for him to get takedowns at will against Derrick Lewis being such a bigger dude,” said Weidman. “But I do think his pace and the pressure, bringing Gane to the cage and looking for takedowns there is probably Hokit’s best chance. And he’s got heavy hands too.”
“I’m actually shocked that the odds are that favored for Gane,” Weidman said. “I am shocked.”
At the time of publication, DraftKings had the odds set at Gane a -265 favorite and Hokit at +215.
