UFC heavyweight Alex Pereira shared his prediction for the UFC 334 main event between Ciryl Gane and Josh Hokit.
Gane, who was elevated to undisputed UFC heavyweight champion after former champ Tom Aspinall retired, will battle Hokit in his first title defense in the UFC 334 headliner.
Pereira has made it clear that he is upset the UFC didn’t give him the title shot instead, but regardless, he will watch the fight, and he has a pick for it.
Alex Pereira Says Josh Hokit Is Not Ready for Ciryl Gane
Speaking to Ariel Helwani, Pereira was asked who he thinks will win the UFC 334 heavyweight title fight between Gane and Hokit, and the Brazilian said that he has no doubt Gane will be victorious.
“I think Ciryl Gane (wins). I don’t think (Hokit is ready). He is on a winning streak, but against opponents that are not in a good moment in the UFC. The results show that. If you see the last fights, he was actually getting very tired. Those guys aren’t even in a good moment in the UFC, and he was already getting tired. So imagine a five-round fight. Unless he really changes from the last fight to this one, it’s gonna be hard,” Pereira said (via Bloody Elbow).
Alex Pereira Hopes to Fight UFC 334 Winner
After the UFC booked Hokit in the title fight against Gane, the promotion gave Pereira a very tough matchup against former title challenger Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 335 in December.
Pavlovich is a heavy-handed knockout artist who is among the very best fighters in the division, but if Pereira is able to get past him, then he hopes he will get another crack at the heavyweight belt against the winner of Gane vs. Hokit at UFC 334.
Of course, it will matter what happens with the Alexander Volkov vs. Rizvan Kuniev fight at UFC 334, because if Volkov wins that fight impressively, he could very well catapult himself into a title shot.
But Pereira is hopeful a big win over Pavlovich will be exactly what he needs to fight for the belt in his next fight.
Alex Pereira Predicts UFC 334’s Ciryl Gane vs. Josh Hokit