Two former heavyweight champions have picked the same side ahead of UFC 334 — and it is not the champion's. Cain Velasquez and Mark Coleman both say Josh Hokit will beat Ciryl Gane on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, and both men framed it the same way: the challenger is the more complete fighter, and the wrestling is the difference.
“I think Josh is gonna surprise people on [Saturday]. He's way more complete than Gane is.”
Velasquez told MMA Fighting that Hokit has earned the title shot with his performances and with the way he promotes himself. "He deserves what he's getting as far as a title shot," Velasquez said. "He's also taking the route, somewhat of a Conor McGregor, to speak in a way that creates attention… I think Josh is gonna surprise people on [Saturday]. He's way more complete than Gane is." He went further than a prediction: "I see him winning this fight." Velasquez pointed to the wrestling and the hands — great wrestling, he said, and "great hands, as you've seen" — and said Hokit has already proved he can handle the biggest stage: "When the time comes to fight in a big stage, that's the hardest part where everybody's watching… He's proven that."
Coleman broke the fight down on Bowks Talking Bouts, while talking about his documentary feature on the second season of Darkside of the Cage. The UFC's first heavyweight champion said he has backed Hokit from the start: "I'm impressed with [Josh] Hokit. I've been on his wagon since day one cuz as soon as I do his background, he's a football player and a wrestler in college. Well, that turns me on, man. because that's what I wanted to be. Then I did the research and I'm all in with this guy." Coleman likes the character, too — "That character he came up with, it's probably him. But wow, man" — and the social media run: "he's a social media king right now, man. Doing that rap song. He got that rap song now. It's like, to me, it's a 10, man. He's just killing it and he can back it up."
His advice to Hokit is pure Coleman: take Gane down. "I can get this guy down, so why not do it? Because it's always an advantage to be on top of somebody. That's a fact. So, I'm going to do that. I'm going to at least soften him up and tire him out a little bit before we trade on the feet because a fresh Ciryl Gane oh, that boy will knock you out really quick if he's fresh." The champions' rule, as Coleman put it: "if you look at all the champions, they can take people down and they can keep them down. That's how you win. But Hokit, get this guy down and pound his ass." And the Hammer's signature line: "Get on top of him and shut his f***ing eyes. Throw a headbutt if you have to."
Gane puts his heavyweight title on the line in the UFC 334 main event on Saturday, Nov. 14, at Madison Square Garden in New York. He is the betting favorite. Gane is 14-2 with one no contest, and his only losses in a seven-year, 12-fight UFC run came against former champions Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones. He was elevated to undisputed champion after Tom Aspinall vacated the title. Hokit is 10-0 and 4-0 in the UFC since earning a contract on Dana White's Contender Series, coming off wins over Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis — the Blaydes win a Fight of the Year contender at UFC 327 in April, the Lewis win on the White House card.
Coleman also said the sport itself has changed since his era — with headbutts outlawed, "it's a completely different sport" — but the heavyweight math has not: the man who can take the other man down and keep him there wins. Two generations of heavyweight champions agree on who that man is on Saturday. The cage will settle it.
