Josh Hokit Warns Ciryl Gane: "He Hits Me Low, I Gotta Stab Him"

The unbeaten challenger has a simple rule for the biggest fight of his career: whatever Ciryl Gane does to him at UFC 334, he does back — and the escalation does not stop at a low blow.

Josh Hokit is not planning to let Ciryl Gane fight dirty alone.

The unbeaten heavyweight laid out his rule in comments shared by UFC on Paramount on X ahead of Saturday's title bout at Madison Square Garden: whatever Gane does to him, he does back — only harder.

He did not want to dwell on it. Hokit was asked if Gane cheats in his fights, and he let rip.

"It doesn't matter. I don't even want to put too much thought into it, but it's like my mentality is if he hits me in the back of the head, I'm poking him in the eyes."

Then he kept climbing.

"He pokes me in the eyes, I hit him low. He hits me low, I gotta stab him now."

Then further still.

"He stabs me, I am shooting him. He shoots me, I am finding his family and killing them. He finds my family kills them, I got to go to France, I am conquering his whole f***** country, that's the mentality."

Hokit ran the same ladder on The Ariel Helwani Show, and then pulled it back himself: "Whether that actually happens or not? That obviously won't happen but I'm not worried about it."

He closed the answer with one more line: "If he pokes me in the eye, it is what it is, I will fight blind."

The warning lands because the history is fresh. Gane's title fight with Tom Aspinall at UFC 321 in October 2025 was ruled a no contest after an eye poke left Aspinall unable to continue. Aspinall needed multiple surgeries and vacated the belt in September, which lifted Gane to undisputed champion. Gane's June stoppage of Alex Pereira at UFC Freedom 250 drew a separate complaint about punches to the back of the head.

It is not just the last two fights. Gane has been flagged for illegal punches and eye pokes across his career, and his last two outings — Aspinall and Pereira — were both marred by clear fouls.

Hokit is clear on one point: he will not start it. He will not initiate the foul strikes. He will only answer them if Gane throws first.

That is the threat and the limit of it — and it is also the story of how fast Hokit got here. He earned his UFC contract on Dana White's Contender Series in August 2025, stopping Guilherme Uriel with elbows in the second round. He knocked out Max Gimenis in 56 seconds in his November debut, then stopped Denzel Freeman in the first round at UFC 324 in January. The leap came at UFC 327 in April: a unanimous decision over Curtis Blaydes in a three-round war that set a UFC heavyweight record for combined significant strikes at 351, with Hokit landing 177. He took Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night bonuses for it, then stopped Derrick Lewis in the second round at UFC Freedom 250 in June.

Hokit is 10-0 overall and 4-0 in the UFC, ranked No. 4 at heavyweight. The former Fresno State fullback and All-American wrestler turns 29 on Thursday, two days before the fight.

Gane, 14-2, won the interim belt by stopping Pereira at Freedom 250 and was elevated to undisputed champion when Aspinall vacated. Saturday is his first defense of the undisputed title. He has spent the week insisting the act does not bother him.

Hokit has been joking about the fouls for weeks — in skits, he "conditioned" his eyes by getting pepper sprayed. The joke is over now. Saturday decides whether the warning was a promo or a preview.