NEW YORK (The Thursday Times) — Kayla Harrison retained the UFC women’s bantamweight title on Saturday night by submitting Amanda Nunes with a rear-naked choke early in the fourth round at UFC 334, and Ciryl Gane kept the heavyweight belt by beating Josh Hokit on all three judges’ scorecards at Madison Square Garden.
Harrison ends a long-running rivalry
The co-main event closed a rivalry nearly eight years in the making. Nunes, who retired about three and a half years ago, returned for the fight but could not overcome the reigning champion, who finished the bout in round four.
Gane outlasts Hokit in a record-setting brawl
Gane won the five-round main event 48-47 on all three scorecards. Hokit, a 29-year-old who joined the UFC 15 months ago and has built a reputation on loud trash talk, ran at the champion from the opening bell and set a frantic pace of striking and grappling. He electrified the crowd with a big slam at the end of the first round and appeared to hold momentum through the second and third.
Gane answered with jabs and body punches and took control of the striking exchanges in the final rounds. According to official UFC statistics, he outlanded Hokit 298-243 in total strikes. The pair’s 541 combined strikes were a record for a UFC heavyweight fight, and Gane’s 237 significant strikes also broke the heavyweight record.
Hokit said afterwards: “I will never lose hope. I will be champion one day.” Gane said he had never taken Hokit lightly. UFC chief executive Dana White said he had disliked Hokit’s act but now respected him, calling him “the real deal”.
Gane, whose only defeats have come against Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou, could next face Alex Pereira, Tom Aspinall, Alexander Volkov, or Sergei Pavlovich.
Earlier on the card, Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson stopped Charles Radtke in the third round with a spinning kick to the head.
