Hokit launches personal insults at Cyril Gane's mother at UFC 334 press conference

Josh Hokit opened the UFC 334 press conference on the attack, aiming crude personal insults at the mother of Cyril Gane and setting a hostile tone for fight week. The remarks came at the very start of the presser, a day before the event on November 14.

Hokit, 29, enters the weekend unbeaten at 10-0 and ranked fourth in the heavyweight division. The American fights out of an orthodox stance and stands six-foot-one with a 73-inch reach. His numbers point to a fighter who combines volume with wrestling: he lands 9.29 significant strikes per minute at 64 percent accuracy, and averages 3.73 takedowns per 15 minutes.

His recent run shows the same pressure. His most recent recorded fight was a second-round KO/TKO of Derrick Lewis at UFC Freedom 250 on June 14. Before that he beat Curtis Blaydes by unanimous decision at UFC 327 on April 11, and stopped Denzel Freeman in the first round at UFC 324 on January 24. That is three straight wins, two of them inside the distance.

Gane is the target of the insults, but no verified stats for him accompany this report, so the comparison here rests on Hokit's side alone. What the press conference made clear is that the build-up is personal, at least from one corner.

Why it matters

• Hokit's unbeaten record and top-five ranking give him standing in the heavyweight race, and a high-profile weekend raises the stakes of any trash talk.
• His takedown rate of 3.73 per 15 minutes, paired with heavy output on the feet, shapes how he can force the pace against any opponent.
• A heated press conference can raise the profile of a card, but it also puts pressure on a fighter to back up his words.

The remarks, delivered right at the start of the presser, framed the rest of the event's promotion and left little doubt about the mood heading into UFC 334.