Ciryl Gane Pissed Off The MSG Crowd With A Win Over Josh Hokit In Tonight's Main Event
What a god damn main event. Josh Hokit and Ciryl Gane just set the record for the most significant strikes in UFC Heavyweight Championship history, and had Madison Square Garden going NUTS for five straight rounds. Gane retaining the title definitely wasn't the result the majority of fans in attendance wanted to see tonight, but that's the game. I'm sure the UFC PR team let out the longest sigh of relief they've ever had when Gane was read as the winner.
As for the actual fight, Hokit set an insane pace right away and constantly had Gane on his heels circling backward. Gane saw some success with his jab early, but Hokit landed a ton of big shots himself and capped the first round off with a MASSIVE takedown….
It was more of the same in the second, very much playing out like a sequel to the Josh Hokit vs Curtis Blaydes fight; just an all out slobberknocker. Hokit was hyping the crowd up and got MSG going with about a dozen foot stomps and a couple middle fingers in the third and fourth rounds….
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Both guys looked pretty damn gassed by the third, but Hokit appeared to be the fresher fighter who refused to take the stool between rounds. Things slowed down a lot in the fourth and fifth, as all strikes seemed to lose power by a significant percentage and both guys looked a lot sloppier, pulling the threat of a finish down tremendously. Gane had more success in the later rounds when Hokit slowed down, but they weren't super dominant rounds or anything; he just edged them out.
MSG obviously hated the result, but I don't think it was a crazy robbery or anything. I thought Hokit could've stolen the first round with that big takedown, and wouldn't argue with a 48-47 Hokit card at all - but I'm also not gonna argue the Gane cards. It was an incredibly close fight.
Overall UFC 334 was a mixed bag. We had an awesome main event, an unbelievable moment in Wonderboy's retirement, and then a good-but-kinda-weird co-main event, and a lot of shitty fights thrown in as well. It was far from the best of the MSG pay-per-views, but I'm not walking out of the building disappointed or anything. I mean, how could you after that main?!
Thanks to everyone who followed along with the blogs tonight. We'll be right back at it next Saturday for what looks to be a really great Qatar card….
