Table of Content
Ciryl Gane retained the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight championship and handed Josh Hokit his first professional loss with a unanimous decision in the main event of UFC 334 at Madison Square Garden in New York. All three judges scored the fight 48-47 for Gane.
Heavyweight and Bantamweight Championship Bouts
Hokit charged forward and tripped Gane seconds into the opening round. Gane scrambled to his feet and caught Hokit in the left eye with a finger, though the action continued without a timeout as Gane landed jabs. Hokit bloodied the champion’s nose with right hands in the second round and took Gane’s back in the third. Gane utilized uppercuts and body shots in the later rounds, and despite taking two hard right hooks from Hokit with about a minute left in the fifth, Gane secured the narrow decision victory to keep the belt.
In the co-main event, Kayla Harrison retained her women’s bantamweight title by submitting Amanda Nunes with a rear-naked choke at 1:27 of Round 4. Harrison was returning from neck surgery, while Nunes was fighting for the first time since retiring as champion in June 2023. Nunes stunned Harrison twice with right hooks early on, but Harrison later secured dominant positions, including a crucifix in the second round and a cut-opening elbow in the third, before sinking the winning choke in the fourth.
Main Card Results
Caio Borralho earned his second win of the year with a unanimous decision over Yousri Belgaroui at middleweight, with all three judges scoring it 30-27. Kevin Holland and Uros Medic fought to a majority draw at welterweight after Holland dropped Medic early and survived a late-round flurry, while official scorecards showed one judge scoring the bout 29-27 for Holland and two scoring it 28-28 following confusion with the announcements.
In the main card opener, Luis Gurule handed Bilal Hasan his first loss by split decision. Gurule dropped Hasan with a counter right hook and controlled the later rounds on the mat despite sustaining a cut above his left eye.
Prelims and Early Card Action
Former welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson closed the prelims and his professional career with a third-round TKO of Charles Radtke. After navigating early takedowns and an accidental clash of heads that opened a cut, “Wonderboy” wobbled Radtke with a side kick and dropped him with a spinning wheel kick to the head at 2:54 of Round 3.
ChrisDuncan used a steady diet of kicks to earn a unanimous decision over Drew Dober at lightweight. Terrance McKinney missed weight for his lightweight bout but stopped Jim Miller at 1:53 of the first round following a left hand and punches on the ground. Cesar Almeida handed Donte Johnson his first loss via a first-round TKO at a 190-pound catchweight, and Melquizael Costa held off a late rally from Jared Gordon to secure a unanimous decision at lightweight.
In other preliminary bouts, Beatriz Mesquita submitted Macy Chiasson with a rear-naked choke at 3:23 of the first round. Juan Diaz earned a unanimous decision over Heili Alateng despite missing the bantamweight limit, and Evan Elder opened the event with a unanimous decision over debuting lightweight Samuel Sanches, a bout that featured point deductions for Sanches grabbing the cage.
