Stipe Miocic ‘100%’ sure who will win Ciryl Gane vs Josh Hokit UFC 334 title fight

UFC heavyweight legend Stipe Miocic has explained why Ciryl Gane has to win his first title defence against Josh Hokit at UFC 334.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, the UFC returns to the Mecca of combat sports as heavyweight champion Gane faces the controversial Hokit atop a stacked card at the iconic Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Heading into the fight Gane is facing huge pressure given the nature of how he won his title, and former UFC heavyweight champion Miocic has explained that a win over Hokit is needed for the Frenchman to be considered as the 'real champ' of the UFC's biggest divison.

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Stipe Miocic explains why Ciryl Gane MUST win vs Josh Hokit at UFC 334

Gane officially became the UFC's undisputed heavyweight champion when his interim title was elevated in September 2026 when Tom Aspinall vacated the belt because of his ongoing eye injuries.

Interim champions that later are elevated to undisputed have always been subject to criticism from fans claiming they don't deserve to be viewed as the 'real' champion, but this is particularly apparent for Gane given the nature of how he he was elevated.

Essentially, Gane has directly benefitted from illegally eye-poking former champion Aspinall when he challenged the Englishman for the heavyweight title last year, as the eye pokes caused the injuries that forced Aspinall to vacate the belt.

Miocic, who many regard as the greatest UFC heavyweight of all time, feels this means that, as of right now, Gane isn't the real heavyweight champion, and he must beat Hokit in New York if he's to be seen as the true top dog of the heavyweight division.

“I think Gane must beat Hokit. He's got to win this to be seen as the real champ," Miocic told SPORTbible, via casino.org.

"I think he definitely needs to win as he's had a few chances now and he's come short a few times, so he's got something to prove."

Sunday morning's main event will be the fourth time that Gane has been in an undisputed title fight, but his first as the defending champion.

Across all other occasions, Gane has failed to win, but Miocic is confident the Frenchman will get it done against Hokit.

“But he's really good. I think he wins it though because he's a champion. I understand there's a lot going on behind the scenes, but I think that he'll 100% be the champ.

"I think he deserves it. He's fought the best of the best.”

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Stipe Miocic's advice to Tom Aspinall ahead of UFC comeback

Of course, regardless of who wins at UFC 334, attention will then turn to a potential bout with Aspinall sometime next year.

As it stands, it is not known when, or if, Aspinall will return to the octagon, but with many still viewing the Englishman as the true heavyweight champion, both Gane and Hokit will be eager to face him as soon as possible.

But Miocic has implored Aspinall to take his time before rushing back to try get his belt back, telling SPORTbible: "I think he just needs to assess it over time and I think that's going to be tough for him.

"If I were him, I would just be careful with any decision I'm making and not rush into anything. But I think he's doing the right thing in stepping back for now. I get it. He's young and he doesn't want to lose his sight."

And as for the claims that Aspinall is the real champion, Miocic is unconvinced that such a narrative is fair on anybody involved, claiming that, while Aspinall could still hold his belt had he not been injured, the true champion will be the winner of the main event at UFC 334.

“I guess you could say he's the real champ, but at the end of the day, he's the one that chose to vacate it," Miocic said of Aspinall's current place in the division.

“Whoever wins between Gane and Hokit is gonna be the true champ. That's the way I look at it. One of them will have the belt wrapped around their waist, and you can't really dispute that.

“Would he (Aspinall) still be champion if he was fighting now? He'd still be up there if he was currently fighting, but I don't know whether he'd be the champion.

"I don't know how that fight between him and Gane was going to go. It was early on when the eye poke happened and they were both going at it.

"Gane looked great, but with Tom’s experience, you just don’t know. He's been there and done that before, so it's tough to call a winner. It's a fight game, man, anything can happen. It's crazy.”