The UFC will return to Madison Square Garden in November with a heavyweight championship fight and the return of Kayla Harrison.
On the UFC 331 broadcast, it was revealed that Ciryl Gane will fight Josh Hokit for the heavyweight championship after Tom Aspinall vacated his title earlier this week. It was clarified on the broadcast that Dana White misspoke, and Gane has officially been elevated from interim to undisputed champion.
Aspinall had been plagued by eye issues since being poked in both eyes by Gane at UFC 321 last October. The eye pokes led to a no contest being ruled and Aspinall undergoing surgery. He was preparing for a comeback but suffered a setback with his right eye, leading to the decision to hand over the title and not keep the division on ice.
Since their fight last year, Gane defeated Alex Pereira in June at UFC Freedom 250 to claim the interim version of the heavyweight title. On the same card, Josh Hokit defeated Derrick Lewis by unanimous decision and will headline the UFC 334 card at Madison Square Garden.
Also announced for November 14 in New York City is the delayed fight between bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison and Amanda Nunes. The two were scheduled to fight this past January, but the fight was canceled after Harrison underwent neck surgery that month.
The fight pits two of the best women’s fighters of all time, with the history between the two as former teammates at American Top Team. Nunes is coming out of retirement for this fight after he ended her career as 135-pound champion in June 2023 with a 23-5 record.
It was mentioned that Stephen Thompson will have his retirement fight on the preliminary card.
UFC 334 – Saturday, November 14 (Madison Square Garden)
- UFC Heavyweight Championship: Ciryl Gane vs. Josh Hokit
- UFC Bantamweight Championship: Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes
- Caio Borralho vs. Yousri Belgaroui
- Kevin Holland vs. Uroš Medić
- Bilal Hasan vs. Luis Gurule
- Stephen Thompson vs. Charles Radtke
- Drew Dober vs. Chris Duncan
- Jim Miller vs. Terrance McKinney
- Donte Johnson vs. Baisangur Susurkaev
- Macy Chiasson vs. Bia Mesquita
- Adrian Yanez vs. Juan Diaz
- Nazim Sadykov vs. Jefferson Nascimento
