Rashad Evans: Ciryl Gane Faces a "Huge" Test at UFC 334 — "The Fearlessness of Getting Tired" Is What Beats Him

UFC Hall of Famer Rashad Evans is picking the upset at UFC 334 — and not for the reason most people expect. He is leaning toward Josh Hokit to take the heavyweight title off Ciryl Gane on Saturday, and it is not the wrestling. It is the pace.

"This is a huge test for him," Evans told MMA Junkie. "He's got a chance to right the wrongs, in a sense, and show that he has the ability to handle a high-level wrestler, somebody that can implement their wrestling game."

Evans, the former UFC light heavyweight champion who now works as a UFC desk analyst and coach, sees Saturday at Madison Square Garden as the fight that finally answers the question hanging over Gane since March 2023: can he handle a high-pressure wrestler?

"That was probably really the only big question in his game after what we've seen with Jon Jones," Evans said. "Can he handle a high-pressure wrestler, somebody that's going to put him down? Does he have the understanding to deal with it on the ground?"

Gane, 14-2, has not lost since Jones submitted him with a guillotine choke at 2:04 of the first round at UFC 285. He fell short of heavyweight gold that night. On Saturday he defends it for the first time, against the unbeaten Hokit, 10-0, in the UFC 334 main event on Paramount+.

Hokit will be the first opponent for Gane since Jones who holds a clear wrestling advantage on paper. That is the test Evans is talking about — and he thinks Hokit passes it with his engine, not his takedowns.

"I really feel like the biggest factor in this fight for me is the pace that Hokit is going to put on," Evans said. "That's something that can nullify a lot of the things that make Ciryl Gane the favorite. Like his technique: He's got beautiful technique. He's got beautiful timing, he's got great power. But what can bring him out of all of that is a pace that gets him tired. And having a pace that gets him tired will definitely be something that can really have Josh Hokit becoming the champion. Because of that I'm leaning toward Hokit."

"I love Ciryl Gane and the way that he fights and love his style. I hope I'm wrong, but I've just got a feeling that it's going to be Josh Hokit because of that pace and because of his fearlessness of getting tired. I can't overstate how much of a weapon that is — the fearlessness of the being tired."

Evans is not blind to the other side of it. He warned that Hokit leaves openings, and openings against Gane are dangerous.

"Some of the problems with Josh Hokit's game is that he's very hittable," Evans said. "He's been hit a lot, and you can't get hit with a guy like Ciryl Gane. He put Alex Pereira out, and Alex has great durability."

Gane, 36, stopped Pereira to win the interim belt at the UFC's White House card in June, and was elevated to undisputed champion in September after Tom Aspinall vacated because of ongoing eye problems. Aspinall had been unable to compete since Gane inadvertently poked him in the eyes in October 2025, a bout ruled a no-contest; a rematch was planned, but Aspinall was still unable to fight, so he gave up the belt and Gane was upgraded. It is the first time Gane has held the undisputed belt, after losing title fights to Francis Ngannou in 2022 and Jones in 2023.

Hokit earned the shot in 12 months. He outpointed Curtis Blaydes at UFC 327 in April, then stopped Derrick Lewis in the second round at the White House card on June 14. Now he trains at Jackson-Wink MMA — the camp where Jones spent much of his career — and his team believes it holds the blueprint. "The Jackson-Wink camp, they know how to beat Ciryl Gane in under two minutes," Hokit said on the UFC 334 Countdown show.

Hokit himself is unbothered by Gane's size. "He has weight over me. If size and weight always mattered in a fight, the elephant would be king of the jungle," he said in the first episode of UFC 334 Embedded. "I'm gonna neutralize him with my skill set, make him real tired, and we'll see who wants it more."

Not everyone buys the Hokit case. Alex Pereira, the man Gane stopped for the interim belt, has backed Gane to win, saying Hokit is not ready for a five-round championship fight and pointing out that Hokit was getting tired in recent fights against opponents who were struggling for form. Former middleweight champion Chris Weidman, speaking on the Deep Waters podcast, went the other way: Hokit should wrestle, pressure Gane against the cage, and look for takedowns, with "Cain Velasquez-like control on top."

The betting world is watching too. Jorge Masvidal has put $200,000 on Hokit at 5-to-1.

Evans's read is the one that frames the whole main event. Gane has spent three years learning on the job since Jones exposed him — Evans's own words: "he's been learning on the job a lot. And learning on the job is sometimes embarrassing because you don't know what you don't know. It's all about once you do know, what do you do? This is going to be that test."

Saturday is the answer.