UFC 334 Preview Show: Has Josh Hokit Gotten Over With Fans Ahead Of Ciryl Gane Fight?

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

Share comfort and joy this holiday season at Tacovus. Our boots are handcrafted in over 200 meticulous steps and have a broken-in feel right out of the box with styles for everyone in the family. Our expert staff can help you pick the perfect gifts, and we have free in-store gift wrapping to help make the holiday season truly special. See you soon at your local Tacovus store, or shop with us anytime at tacovus.com.

SPEAKER_2 (0:24)

Hi there, I am fully charged and here to tell you, Toy Story 5 is now on Disney Plus.

SPEAKER_3 (0:30)

It's been too long, cowboy.

SPEAKER_2 (0:32)

Woody, Buzz and Jesse are back for a brand new adventure with some seriously cool new tech. What?

Jed Meshew (0:38)

Holy butterscotch!

SPEAKER_2 (0:39)

You said it, Jesse. So save your batteries and watch the global phenomenon at home. And the best part, it's perfect for the whole family. Power up your movie night and watch Disney and Pixar's Toy Story 5 now streaming on Disney Plus Rated PG.

Mike Heck (0:55)

You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Jed Meshew (1:08)

Martial arts, mixed martial arts. How do we lack our martial arts?

SPEAKER_2 (1:15)

In a questionable, undisputed, heavyweight title fight!

Jed Meshew (1:22)

Hello, ladies and gentlemen. What is going on? My name is Jed Meshew. I may write it for you and you may find it upcoming. We are here to talk about Ufc 334, which takes place in a little over 24 hours at Madison Square Garden in New York City, headline of Colt by the heavyweight title fight between Ciryl Gane and Josh Hokit and featuring the long-awaited women's bantamweight title fight between Kayla Harrison, Amanda Nunes and a whole bunch of other fights. And when I say we are talking about it, I mean me, myself and the King in the North.

Just the gosh darn nicest guy in the sport, especially now that the only other guy who might be considered nicer than him is about to retire on Saturday. I speak, of course, of Alexander K. Lee, AK., how you doing?

Alexander K. Lee (2:16)

I'm doing great, Jed. Love to see you.

I don't think it's just you and me. It's the world, I think, is talking about this card. No, certainly all of New York.

Certainly, you know, the vast majority, I think, of the combat sports community. This is a fine card. This is a fine card. I think for, who said the UFC has had a pretty strong 2026 campaign? Like there's been a few clunkers here and there, for sure. But I think, for the most part, they hit that right formula of like, you know, managing to get together some pretty big matches. Not all of them like delivered, you know, in practice. You have some squash matches, building up some good names, sending off some veterans, you know, we'll talk about that later. We certainly got that on this card as well. And I think this card is actually just the perfect summation of that. Like if you look at the top to bottom, I think that's kind of what we're getting. We're getting that mix that we've gotten throughout the year. So, man, I'm excited. Did you call the main event Questionable, Jed?

Jed Meshew (3:12)

I said Questionably Undisputed Heavyweight Title. How dare you? You know, we'll get to that in just a second, though, OK? But first, what I wanted to ask you is, kind of piggybacks off what you said.

Is the whole of New York talking about this?

How is your level of excitement for this card? And give me some kind of sense of how you think, you know, has this broken through to the broader public? I was talking about this on BTL yesterday with Luke Thomas and the esteemed Mike Heck. This doesn't feel like it's passing the mom test. There is not... I don't personally get the sense of a ton of interest outside of the bubble, but maybe Canada, you know, you're closer to New York than I am. Maybe things are just different for the Great White North.

Alexander K. Lee (4:04)

You know, my mother could not tell Ciryl Gane from Cyrano to Bergerac. You know what I mean? She doesn't know what a Kayla Harrison is.

Jed Meshew (4:13)

Are you suggesting that Ciryl Gane has an outsized nose? Is that what's...

Alexander K. Lee (4:18)

As far as my mother's concerned, if I sent Ciryl Gane to her, she would think I was talking about Gerard de Pardue. Yeah, that's what she would envision if I said Ciryl Gane.

Jed Meshew (4:26)

Especially because we know the poet of this heavyweight title fight is not Ciryl Gane, but Josh Hokit.