Unbeaten Hokit threatens to 'conquer France' in wild UFC 334 pre-fight rant against Gane

Josh Hokit has cranked the pre-fight theatre to an extreme ahead of his UFC 334 heavyweight title shot against Ciryl Gane, delivering a tirade in which he threatened to retaliate for any foul with escalating violence — ultimately invoking Gane’s family and promising to “conquer” France.

Hokit (10-0) meets Gane on 14 November at Madison Square Garden in New York. Asked during a pre-fight interview whether he views Gane as a dirty fighter, the unbeaten challenger said he hadn’t given it much thought — before immediately giving it a great deal of thought.

“I mean, it doesn’t matter. I don’t even want to put too much thought into it,” Hokit said. “My mentality is, if he hits me in the back of the head, I’m hitting him, I’m poking him in the eyes.”

From there, the hypothetical spiralled rapidly. “If he pokes me in the eye, I hit him low. He hits me low, I gotta stab him now,” Hokit continued. “He stabs me, I’m shooting him, he shoots me. I’m finding his family, killing them. He finds my family, kills them. I gotta go to France, I’m conquering his whole f**king country. That’s the mentality, at least.”

Hokit arrives at the fight on the back of a second-round TKO win over Derrick Lewis at UFC Freedom 250. Gane was on the same card, stopping Alex Pereira to claim the interim heavyweight title before becoming undisputed champion when Tom Aspinall vacated the belt.

Gane enters as champion; Hokit enters as the unbeaten challenger with a flair for pre-fight spectacle. Whether the rant reflects genuine psychological warfare or simply a fighter enjoying the moment, it has ensured the 14 November card at Madison Square Garden will not lack for attention.