Gane Named Undisputed UFC Champ, Faces Hokit at MSG Nov. 14

The UFC elevated Ciryl Gane from interim to undisputed heavyweight champion on Saturday, September 19, and booked his first defense in the same breath: the Frenchman meets American contender Josh Hokit in the main event of UFC 334 on November 14 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The promotion made both announcements during the Crypto.com UFC 331 broadcast, and says the New York card will stream on Paramount+.

What makes it news is that it reversed the promotion's own position of a day earlier. Yahoo Sports' Uncrowned wrote that the announcement arrived "less than 24 hours after UFC CEO Dana White publicly pooh-poohed the idea of Gane being promoted to undisputed champion without fighting another bout." theScore reported that White had said on Friday that Gane would not be elevated, and that play-by-play commentator Jon Anik clarified on the UFC 331 broadcast that Gane is indeed the undisputed champ.

The belt was open because Tom Aspinall gave it up. According to the UFC, Gane's promotion follows Aspinall's decision to vacate while he recovers from complications of an eye poke suffered against Gane at UFC 321 in October 2025 — a title fight that ended in a no-contest after Gane caught Aspinall in both eyes in the opening round. In a statement released Monday, September 14, Aspinall said: "I've asked the UFC to allow me to make this statement because I don't want to hold the heavyweight division up." In the same post, the UFC says, he revealed he had reinjured his right eye while training for an expected rematch with Gane and would wait for medical clearance again. Uncrowned reported, citing sources, that the right eye is now reaggravated to "the same as day one."

For fans, the practical effect is that the sport's marquee division finally has a named champion and a dated fight after roughly eleven months of limbo. Gane took the interim belt by knocking out Alex Pereira at UFC Freedom 250 in June, a win Uncrowned described as controversial. His challenger is the card's wild card: the UFC says the brash 28-year-old Hokit earned his contract on Dana White's Contender Series in August 2025, has collected four performance bonuses since — including Performance of the Night and Fight of the Night for his bout with Curtis Blaydes at UFC 327 — and beat Derrick Lewis by TKO for his fourth Octagon win since November 2025.

The co-main event carries its own weight: bantamweight champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison makes the first defense of her title against former two-division champion Amanda Nunes. theScore notes the bout was originally set for UFC 324 in January before Harrison withdrew with a neck injury. The open question is Aspinall, who has no booked return and no public timetable. Asked about it by Sportsnet on Friday, White said: "Obviously whenever he feels healthy again, whenever his eyes are healed, then we're ready for him."