# Josh Hokit Mocks Ciryl Gane With Goggles at UFC 334 Presser

Source: SportsBriefly (https://sportsbriefly.com)
Canonical URL: https://sportsbriefly.com/en/mma/josh-hokit-mocks-ciryl-gane-with-goggles-at-ufc-334-presser-2026-11-13-uxnxd8
Language: en
Published: 2026-11-13T15:03:28.65+00:00
Updated: 2026-11-13T15:03:28.70256+00:00

> Josh Hokit wore goggles and an eye patch to Thursday's UFC 334 press conference, mocking Ciryl Gane's eye-poke history.

## TL;DR
- Josh Hokit wore goggles and an eye patch to Thursday's UFC 334 press conference, mocking Ciryl Gane's eye-poke history.
- Gane sat largely silent as Hokit led the Madison Square Garden crowd in chants and taunted him face to face.
- Gane defends the undisputed heavyweight title against the unbeaten Hokit on Saturday, with Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes as co-main event.
- Former champion Cain Velasquez has backed Hokit to pull off the upset in New York.

## Key points
- Josh Hokit wore goggles and an eye patch to Thursday's UFC 334 press conference, mocking Ciryl Gane's eye-poke history.
- Gane sat largely silent as Hokit led the Madison Square Garden crowd in chants and taunted him face to face.
- Gane defends the undisputed heavyweight title against the unbeaten Hokit on Saturday, with Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes as co-main event.
- Former champion Cain Velasquez has backed Hokit to pull off the upset in New York.

NEW YORK — Josh Hokit arrived at Thursday's UFC 334 pre-fight press conference dressed for a confrontation that had nothing to do with throwing punches. The undefeated heavyweight challenger walked to the stage at Madison Square Garden wearing protective goggles, an eye patch, gloves, a protective cup and a towel draped behind his head — a walking visual joke aimed squarely at champion Ciryl Gane and the eye-poke controversy that has shadowed his reign.

Hokit did not stop at the costume. For much of the press conference he shouted across the stage at Gane, who sat largely silent and shook his head at several of the challenger's taunts. Hokit led the New York crowd in an obscene chant directed at the champion, then turned the exchange personal with a crude joke about Gane's mother. He also aimed barbs at former champion Alex Pereira, who was sitting in the front row. When the two fighters were finally brought together for the traditional faceoff, Hokit pulled the goggles off for a closer look at the champion, then pressed him with a final challenge: "What kind of champion are you? What kind of man are you?"

![Josh Hokit descends the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at the UFC Freedom 250 press conference in Washington, D.C.](https://api.sportsbriefly.com/storage/v1/object/public/media/api/1794582185410-ahc4uz-mma-inside1-2026-11-13-evening.jpg)

The props were a pointed reference to the defining incident of Gane's championship run. At UFC 321 in October 2025, Gane's bout with then-champion Tom Aspinall ended in a no contest after Gane landed eye pokes that left Aspinall unable to continue. Aspinall later underwent multiple eye surgeries, and in September 2026 he vacated the heavyweight title while still dealing with complications from the injury. Gane has consistently said the fouls were accidental, and earlier this week he described the accusations that he deliberately breaks the rules as disappointing, saying he was not interested in arguing with every critic online.

Gane's path to the undisputed title ran through that controversy. After the no contest with Aspinall, he stopped Alex Pereira in the second round at UFC Freedom 250 in June 2026 — the card staged at the White House — to win the interim heavyweight championship. When Aspinall vacated the belt in September, Gane was elevated to undisputed champion. Saturday's bout at Madison Square Garden is his first title defence, and the first time he will walk to the cage as the division's recognised champion rather than its interim holder.

![Josh Hokit and Derrick Lewis face off at the UFC Freedom 250 ceremonial weigh-in in Washington, D.C.](https://api.sportsbriefly.com/storage/v1/object/public/media/api/1794582201928-rcy3mx-mma-inside2-2026-11-13-evening.jpg)

Hokit, by contrast, arrives as the division's loudest newcomer. The American is 10-0 as a professional and 4-0 in the UFC since earning a contract on Dana White's Contender Series, with recent wins over former interim title challenger Curtis Blaydes and veteran Derrick Lewis. He has never faced anyone with Gane's striking pedigree or five-round championship experience, and he has never fought on a stage this large. Gane, a technically precise Muay Thai specialist who has won 14 of his 17 professional fights, enters as the favourite — but the challenger's week has been impossible to ignore.

That noise has not gone down well with everyone. UFC president Dana White has said he does not like Hokit's "shtick," while defending the title shot as earned rather than gifted. Hokit repaid the compliment at the press conference by leading a chant mocking White's bald head. Earlier in fight week, Hokit also revealed he had learned French curse words in an attempt to rattle the champion; during a UFC Embedded episode, Gane explained that Hokit had misused the word and that it did not offend him.

Others in the sport are taking the challenger seriously. Former heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez has backed Hokit to upset Gane on Saturday, arguing that the challenger has earned his opportunity with both his performances and his promotional instincts. Sean Strickland has gone further, picking Hokit to finish the champion. The betting markets still favour Gane, but the chorus of support for the underdog has grown louder with every appearance Hokit has made this week.

The main event is not the only championship fight on Saturday's card. In the co-main event, Kayla Harrison makes the first defence of her women's bantamweight title against Amanda Nunes, the former two-division champion who retired in 2023 holding both the bantamweight and featherweight belts and has now returned for one of the most anticipated women's fights in UFC history. The card, UFC 334, airs on Paramount+, with the main card beginning at 9 p.m. ET on Saturday. Official weigh-ins took place on Friday morning in Manhattan, with ceremonial weigh-ins scheduled for 5 p.m. ET at Madison Square Garden.

For all the theatre, Saturday will answer a straightforward sporting question: whether Hokit's showmanship can coexist with elite-level performance against one of the most technically accomplished heavyweights of his generation. Gane's answer so far has been silence. Hokit's has been a pair of plastic goggles, a crowded room chanting his opponent's name, and a challenge issued face to face. The cage will decide which of them was right.

Mentions: Josh Hokit, Ciryl Gane, UFC 334, Madison Square Garden, Tom Aspinall, UFC 321, Alex Pereira, Dana White, Kayla Harrison, Amanda Nunes, Curtis Blaydes, Derrick Lewis, Paramount+, Sean Strickland, Cain Velasquez, UFC Freedom 250, heavyweight title, Dana White's Contender Series

## Sources
- [athlonsports.com](https://athlonsports.com/mma/josh-hokit-trolls-ciryl-gane-eye-patch-goggles-ufc-334-press-conference)
- [bloodyelbow.com](https://bloodyelbow.com/2026/11/12/watch-josh-hokit-target-ciryl-gane-and-alex-pereiras-mothers-in-ufc-334-presser-tirade/)
- [sports.ndtv.com](https://sports.ndtv.com/us/mma/what-kind-of-champion-are-you-josh-hokit-goes-off-on-ciryl-gane-at-ufc-334-presser-12322076)
- [mmajunkie.usatoday.com](https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/story/sports/ufc/2026/11/13/ufc-334-official-weigh-in-results-live-stream-gane-hokit-harrison-nunes/92634095007/)
- [sherdog.com](https://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Former-heavyweight-champ-backs-Josh-Hokit-to-upset-Ciryl-Gane-at-UFC-334-203608/amp)