NEW YORK — The Ultimate Fighting Championship delivered
a blockbuster evening of mixed martial arts at Madison Square Garden for UFC 334, headlined by a high-stakes heavyweight championship clash. Ciryl Gane successfully defended his heavyweight title and handed surging contender Josh Hokit his first professional defeat via a hard-fought unanimous decision. All three ringside judges scored the championship bout 48-47 in favor of the reigning titleholder.
The main event action started at a frantic pace in New York City. Hokit, carrying a stellar 10-0 record into the bout, immediately charged forward and successfully tripped Gane just seconds into the opening round. However, the champion quickly scrambled back to his feet. In the ensuing exchange, Gane inadvertently caught Hokit with an outstretched finger to the left eye. Referee action continued without calling a formal timeout, and Gane capitalized by snapping crisp jabs as Hokit pressed ahead with wide, looping overhand rights. Gane planted his feet to string together one of his finest offensive combinations of the round, though Hokit punctuated the frame by lifting and slamming the champion to the canvas just before the opening horn sounded.
Gane Retains Heavyweight Title by Narrow Decision as Harrison Chokes Out Nunes
The championship rounds continued to showcase a compelling clash of styles. Hokit maintained relentless forward pressure into the second round. While Gane countered effectively with sharp jabs and uppercuts, Hokit’s aggressive right hands managed to bloody the champion’s nose. The third round saw Hokit secure a dominant grappling position, catching a kick to the body and swiftly taking Gane’s back. Although Gane worked his way back to his feet, Hokit neutralized much of the champion’s offense by landing short elbows inside the clinch for the remainder of the frame.
As the championship rounds unfolded, Gane adjusted his strategy. In the fourth stanza, the champion relied on stinging uppercuts to deter Hokit’s forward entries, gradually increasing his volume to the body. By the fifth and final round, Hokit’s punches had noticeably lost some of their initial power. Gane took full advantage, mixing his attacks fluidly between the head and body at range and in the clinch. Although Hokit caught Gane with two hard right hooks with roughly a minute remaining on the clock, he lacked the energy reserves to mount a decisive follow-up flurry, allowing Gane to secure the decision on the scorecards.
The co-main event provided an equally dramatic championship moment in the women’s bantamweight division. Kayla Harrison successfully defended her title by securing a submission victory over former two-division champion Amanda Nunes, forcing a tapout via a rear-naked choke at the 1:27 mark of the fourth round. The bout marked a significant milestone for both competitors: Harrison was returning to the Octagon following neck surgery, while Nunes was making her first appearance since formally retiring from the sport as champion in June 2023.
Nunes opened the contest by mixing an early leg kick with a crisp combination, twice stunning Harrison with sharp right hooks and beautifully countering an early takedown attempt with a short uppercut. Though Nunes initially rolled through a subsequent takedown and rose to her feet, Harrison slammed her back to the mat, immediately capitalizing by landing heavy punches and elbows from a scarf hold position. Nunes attempted to turn the tide with her own takedowns in the second round, managing to drag Harrison down to a seated position momentarily. Yet, Harrison demonstrated her exceptional grappling pedigree by reversing the next attempt with a powerful throw, trapping Nunes in a crucifix, and unleashing a torrent of punches and elbows.
Fatigue appeared to catch up with Harrison at the start of the third round. Nunes capitalized by taking the champion down against the fence and subsequently securing her back after Harrison attempted a throw. Harrison managed to scramble back into Nunes’ guard, opening a cut above her opponent with a sharp elbow strike. In the fourth round, Nunes landed a clean left hook in the clinch, but Harrison immediately changed levels, tripped her opponent to the mat, and smoothly transitioned to secure the choke that brought a definitive end to the contest. Despite the magnitude of the victory over a returning legend, Harrison did not make any retirement announcements during her post-fight interview.
Moving down the main card, middleweight contender Caio Borralho earned his second victory of the calendar year by putting on a dominant grappling and striking display against Yousri Belgaroui, capturing a clean sweep on the judges’ scorecards. Borralho seized control early by taking Belgaroui’s back and locking in a tight body triangle in the opening round. Although Belgaroui successfully defended against a neck crank and a guillotine choke before firing back with a clean head kick and a right cross, Borralho answered in the second stanza. The Brazilian hurt his opponent with a crisp right hook, added a left cross, and secured a late takedown to cement the round. Although Belgaroui threatened with a guillotine and briefly rocked Borralho with a knee in the third, Borralho answered with another crucial takedown. All three judges ultimately submitted identical scores of 30-27 for Borralho.
In a turbulent welterweight encounter, veteran fan favorite Kevin Holland and Uros Medic fought to a chaotic majority draw. Holland nearly finished the fight in the opening round, dropping Medic with three consecutive uppercuts and aggressively hunting for a Brabo choke, though Medic managed to survive the frame. The momentum shifted in the second round when two accidental groin kicks significantly slowed Holland down. He exercised his full five-minute allotment to recover from the second foul, resulting in Medic receiving a point deduction from the referee.
Holland spent a large portion of the first two minutes of the final round clinching with Medic to manage the distance. Medic mounted a furious late rally, rocking Holland with three consecutive left hooks in the closing seconds of the bout, though he ran out of time to secure a stoppage. Confusion followed the final bell when two of the scores announced inside the arena by Bruce Buffer failed to match the official scorecards. The official tallies revealed one judge scoring the bout 29-27 in favor of Holland, while the remaining two judges scored it even at 28-28, resulting in the majority draw.
The main card opened with a closely contested bantamweight battle that saw Luis Gurule hand Bilal Hasan his first professional loss via a split decision. Hasan utilized a fluid kickboxing attack from both stances, targeting Gurule’s body early in the fight. However, Gurule turned the tide by dropping Hasan with a sharp counter right hook. After Hasan landed effective knees from the clinch in the second round, Gurule secured a takedown and punished his opponent with heavy elbows late in the frame. Despite absorbing an accidental elbow that opened a significant cut above his left eye, Gurule secured another crucial takedown early in the third round. He maintained top control on the mat, delivering steady punches and elbows until the final horn. Two judges scored the bout 29-28 for Gurule, while the third judge favored Hasan by the same 29-28 margin.
The preliminary card concluded with a dramatic moment as former welterweight title challenger Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson closed out both the prelims and his storied professional career with a spectacular third-round technical knockout victory over Charles Radtke. Radtke tested Thompson early by securing an early takedown, during which an accidental clash of heads opened a deep cut beside Thompson’s eye. Showing his trademark resilience, Thompson worked his way back to his feet and began finding success with his distance management and snapping jabs as Radtke’s pace slowed down. Although Radtke secured another takedown in the second round, he was unable to keep the veteran on the canvas. Thompson nearly finished the contest late in the round with a piercing kick to the body followed by a driving knee.
The end came decisively early in the third round. Thompson wobbled Radtke with a lightning-fast side kick directly to the face, expertly stuffing his opponent’s desperate takedown attempts. Moments later, "Wonderboy" uncorked a stunning spinning wheel kick to the head that sent Radtke crashing to the canvas, prompting the referee to halt the bout at 2:54 of the third round to mark a memorable conclusion to his career.
Earlier in the preliminary lineup, lightweight competitor Chris Duncan relied on a calculated, steady diet of kicks to secure a unanimous decision victory over Drew Dober. Duncan systematically targeted Dober’s body and head with diverse kicking attacks, though he briefly found himself on unsteady legs after absorbing a short right hook. Duncan appeared to sustain a leg injury when one of his kicks collided directly with Dober’s elbow, but the resilient Scot resumed kicking effectively by the second round. Dober landed two heavy uppercuts late in the second and hurt Duncan with an aggressive flurry in the third, but Duncan responded by executing a crucial slam and maintaining top control from half guard until the final bell. The judges’ scorecards read 29-28, 30-27, and 30-27, all in favor of Duncan.
In a quick lightweight showcase, Terrance McKinney—who missed the divisional weight limit prior to the event—made swift work of veteran Jim Miller, securing a technical knockout victory just 1:53 into the very first round. Both southpaw competitors exchanged heavy left hooks within the opening minute, and McKinney quickly opened a cut above Miller’s right eye with crisp jabs. McKinney then dropped the veteran with a sharp left hand, immediately following up with six unanswered punches on the canvas to force the referee stoppage.
In a compelling 190-pound catchweight affair, Cesar Almeida spoiled the undefeated professional record of his former training partner, Donte Johnson, in a brief and explosive brawl. After absorbing two early kicks to the body, Almeida answered by dropping Johnson with a hard right hook. Although Johnson managed to regain his feet and attempted to fire back, Almeida quickly overwhelmed him, landing three consecutive right hands to secure the technical knockout victory at 3:20 of the opening round.
Melquizael Costa successfully weathered a late storm from Jared Gordon to capture a unanimous decision victory in their lightweight encounter. Costa established his range early, attacking Gordon’s body with kicks and punctuating the opening round by dropping his opponent with a spinning back kick right as the bell sounded. Gordon adjusted in the second round, catching a kick to secure a takedown, subsequently escaping a tight triangle choke attempt, and threatening Costa with a rear-naked choke. Gordon added two more takedowns in the third round and once again took Costa’s back in the waning moments, but Costa’s higher output and superior damage during their exchanges on the feet ultimately swayed the judges, who all returned identical scorecards of 29-28 for Costa.
In women’s bantamweight action, decorated jiu-jitsu specialist Beatriz Mesquita continued her ascent through the division by submitting Macy Chiasson at the 3:23 mark of the first round. "Bia" quickly closed the distance, took Chiasson’s back, dragged her cleanly to the canvas, and flattened her out before landing a series of unanswered punches to set up the fight-ending rear-naked choke.
Juan Diaz, who also missed the bantamweight division limit ahead of the event, earned a unanimous decision victory over Heili Alateng. Diaz utilized a crisp jab to set up straight right hands and uppercuts throughout the opening round, maintaining his momentum with right hands in the second. Despite Alateng staggering Diaz with a dangerous counter right hook with only ten seconds remaining in the final round, Diaz controlled the majority of the frame with superior combination punching and stifled Alateng’s lone takedown attempt, prompting all three judges to score the bout 30-27 for Diaz.
The event kicked off with a preliminary lightweight bout that saw Evan Elder earn a unanimous decision over promotional newcomer Samuel Sanches. Elder established his dominance early, rocking Sanches with two left hooks and a knee before bringing the fight to the canvas. Despite Sanches committing two cage grabs while working back to his feet and landing subsequent combinations, Elder dropped him with a right hand before the first horn. Sanches bounced back in the second frame, dropping Elder with a right cross just 75 seconds in. However, Elder recovered, mixed his striking effectively to the head and body, and secured a late takedown. Although the striking remained relatively even in the third round, Elder’s grappling dominance—highlighted by three successful takedowns and another point deduction assessed to Sanches for a subsequent cage grab—secured the outcome, with all three judges scoring the bout 30-26 for Elder.
