Ciryl Gane downs Josh Hokit to retain UFC heavyweight title

Hokit came back in Round ⁠2. After Gane stuffed an early single-leg attempt, Hokit pushed forward with determination, trading heavy right hands and clinching along the fence in a very physical exchange.

Hokit carried that momentum into Round 3 with a scramble takedown, then worked Gane over with several clinch elbows and foot stomps before flashing him the middle finger at the bell. As Hokit's punches began to fade in Round ⁠4, Gane took control, countering the challenger's fence clinches with several bodykicks, knees to the midsection and short, dirty-boxing uppercuts.

With the result still in the balance in Round 5, Gane stuffed Hokit's takedown attempts and opened a cut just above his left eye, then dominated the strikingwith jabs, body shots and multi-punch combinations through the end of the round. Gane kept ⁠things simple after the fight, as did the typically brash Hokit.

"It was ⁠an amazing fight," Gane said. Hokit said he'd enjoy the moment, even if he was on the receiving end. "Resiliency builds character," Hokit said.

Kayla Harrison returned after a 10-month layoff for an injury that requiredneck and spinal fusion surgery, securing a fourth-round rear-naked choke at 1:29 against former two-division UFC women's champion Amanda Nunes. The co-main event victory gave Harrison her first UFC women's bantamweight title defense, spoiling Nunes' return following a nearly four-year retirement.

Harrison (20-1) admitted she wasn't sure what was next for her but took a moment to acknowledge ⁠the audience. "New York City, I love you," Harrison said after the fight. Nunes (23-6) took her gloves off but did not make herself available for ⁠apost-fight interview.

Middleweights took center stage next, as Brazil's Caio Borralho remained in title contention after defeating Holland's Yousri Belgaroui by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27). Borralho (19-2) has won back-to-back fights, while Belgaroui (11-4) saw his six-fight winning streak halted.

In the welterweight division, Kevin Holland and Serbia's Uros Medic fought to a majority draw after 15 minutes, with scorecards of 29-27, 28-28 and 28-28. Initial confusion followed when Octagon announcer Bruce Buffer misread the scores.

One judge scored the fight for Holland (29-15-1), while the other two had it even against Medic (14-3-1). The bout featured several submission attempts, ⁠high-paced striking and clean clinch work. It remains unclear whether the UFC will book a rematch.

At flyweight, Luis Gurule pulled off one of the UFC's biggest upsets of the year, defeating Indonesia's Bilal Hasan by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28). An aggressive pace and active wrestling kept the previously unbeaten Hasan (10-1) off balance after a productive opening round.

After the win, Gurule (12-4) jokingly criticized ChatGPT for picking against him at Thursday's pre-fight press conference, when Hasan did the honors. Gurule was a major underdog at most sportsbooks entering the bout, earning the second win of his UFC career to open the main card