Predicting UFC 334's Biggest Fights
by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen
Sportz Nation - 11/13/2026
In our Fight Night Cortes-Acosta vs Walker Predictions, which you can find here,
Zak went 5-1 in picks with 4 methods for 9 points.
Points To Date:
Zak: 212 (146-92)
Matt: 192 (128-98)
*All odds courtesy of Caesar's Sportsbook on 11/11
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CCiryl Gane vs
4Josh Hokit
Heavyweight Championship
(Gane -205)
Zak Drapeau -
The tall and long striker, versus the compact wrestler for the Heavyweight Championship. Ciryl Gane is the favorite and impressively is coming off a knockout of Alex Pereira and has only lost to Jon Jones in the last 4 years. His fight pedigree includes Poatan, Aspinall, Volkov 2x, Ngannou and others, meanwhile his opponent Josh Hokit has a very good and exciting fight style, but has only faced Derrick Lewis and Curtis Blaydes of note.
Gane has an NFL and decent wrestling background but is Main Eventing this card for the title because of his ability to work the media. He absolutely dominated Derrick Lewis at the White House card and won what will be the Fight of the Year with Curtis Blaydes, while showing that his game is very well-rounded in wrestling as well as his toughness to stand in front of someone and bang. That being said... Ciryl Gane is a huge step up. I know Gane has shown problems in his wrestling and Hokit has all but said he will be taking Gane down the whole fight, but Gane is on another level from this guy who hasn't had any real experience in championship fights. The minute that Hokit can't get Gane down to the ground whenever he wants, the Champ will be teeing off on him using his much superior striking and 8" reach advantage. I give it to the 3rd or 4th round before Hokit gets tired and then dominated.
Prediction: Gane by TKO/KO
Matt Hylen -
I am typically not the biggest fan of Ciryl Gane, but I truly hope he wipes the floor with Josh Hokit. Though he has backed it up to this point, I find Hokit to be extremely distasteful and borderline unbearable. Sure, that might be good for the sport, which is why he is getting fast tracked to a title, but I don’t see this fight being close.
Hokit has been really good inside the octagon, but Gane is a different level of step in the upward trajectory. Gane is one of, if not the fastest, heavyweight we have ever seen. His kickboxing is so crisp and quick but his power is also incredibly impressive. He definitely has a disadvantage if Hokit tries to take this fight to the ground, but otherwise Gane is a legitimate elite fighter. I don’t think Hokit will come into this fight with the right gameplan; he should try and grapple as soon as he can, but his ego will likely get in the way which will cause him to want to stand with Gane. If that’s the case, this fight doesn’t go past the first two rounds.
Prediction: Gane by TKO/KO
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CKayla Harrison vs
Amanda Nunes
Woman's Bantamweight Championship
(Harrison -180)
Zak Drapeau -
The Biggest and Probably Most Important fight in Woman's Mixed Martial Arts history.
There hasn't been many instances where a champion is coming off a 17-month layoff and will still be the more active fighter in a championship match. But Kayla Harrison will return to the Octagon to defend her title for the first time against the GOAT Amanda Nunes, who hasn't competed in over 3 years and 5 months.
Harrison has obviously been the more active fighter with her 3 UFC fights and wins since Amanda's retirement, including her title win last June. Harrison came into the UFC and immediately exacted her will with her grappling against her opponents. As a Judo black belt and 2x Olympic Gold Medalist, she has made a career of throwing woman to the ground and finishing them.
On the other hand, Amanda Nunes is the greatest woman mixed martial artist ever. Between 2015 and 2021, Amanda's 12 fight-win streak including 9 title defenses was one of the best peaks of any UFC fighter ever and her overall 16-2 UFC record was mostly full of dominating anyone who was in front of her. Now that she's been retired for almost 3 and a half years, can she come back and be as good as she once was?
Another huge part in this has been Kayla Harrison's health over the past year after dealing with spinal surgery and a major neck injury that came after. She is cleared but has admitted her "body is feeling the cumulative wear-adn-tear of a brutal stretch of surgeries," (yahoo sports).
I think Harrison was already about to face a great grappler and the hardest hitter she's ever been against in the cage, and now she is coming into the fight with wear and tear while the GOAT is as healthy as she's ever been.
F**K IT! Give me the GOAT in a HUGE upset in the greatest Woman's MMA Fight ever!
Prediction: Nunes by TKO
Matt Hylen -
Zak said it perfectly; this fight is quite literally the biggest to ever happen in women MMA and one of the biggest in MMA as a whole. Amanda Nunes and Kayla Harrison are two of the best martial artists to ever exist, period. Not just in women’s MMA, but in general. These two are the elite of the elite and I am so excited to see this play out.
This entire fight will depend on three things. One, how will Nunes look after a three year long retirement? Many fighters who have had a layoff like Nunes did never come back the same, but on the other hand many fighters don’t even compare to the level of Nunes. Two, will the recent injuries hinder Harrison’s ability to find takedown opportunities? Harrison is of course going to try to take this fight to the ground, but neck injuries can often sabotage a fighters ability to grapple for a sustained period of time. Three, and most importantly, what will be better: Harrison’s striking defense or Nunes’ takedown defense. This will be the defining question that dictates the entire fight. I think I am going to go with the former and take Harrison to do just enough on the feet to find a takedown and get the job done.
Prediction: Harrison by Submission
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5Caio Borralho vs
Yousri Belgaroui
(Borralho -155)
Zak Drapeau -
For those of you unfamiliar with Belgaroui, and are wondering how an unranked fighter with 3 fights in the UFC gets a shot at #6, he is a elite-level former Glory Kickboxer and title challenger who has won 8 of his last 9 MMA fights and is GIGANTIC for this division.
It makes complete sense for Borralho to be the favorite in this one though. First of all, the experience factor of having 3x more UFC fights and 5-ranked fights to Belgaroui's 0. He also has a great grappling background including Judo and BJJ that he doesn't use often in his fights, but has used to perfection against elite strikers before.
I do not see this fight making it to the cards and either Belgaroui chins Borralho very early, or Borralho wears him out on the ground until he gets the tap.
Prediction: Borralho by Submission
Matt Hylen -
This is another super interesting matchup that I didn’t see coming. Yousei Belgaroui is getting a major step up by fighting Caio Borralho, who is a level of fighter Belgaroui has never faced before in the UFC.
What concerns me about Botralho is that while he is a good fighter, he doesn’t excel in any one aspect. He is very good on the feet and on the ground, but there isn’t anything that stands out to me as his signature ability. Belgaroui, on the other hand, has elite kickboxing with one-punch kind of power. His ability to be patient and selectively choose his strikes is what has gotten him this far in the UFC. I think Barralho should make this a grueling fight, but I think I am going to go with the guy with more momentum and bigger finishing power.
Prediction: Belgaroui by TKO/KO
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11Uros Medic vs
Kevin Holland
(Medic -160)
Zak Drapeau -
In a card that has so many fights centered around title pictures, here's our resident "fun fight" of the night between two guys that are looking to steal the show. Uros Medic is coming off back-to-back ranked wins and astonishingly has won 5 of his last 6 fights with all 6 ending via 1st round knockout. His current 4 fight-knockout streak hasn't seen any fight go longer than 79 seconds.
Then we got "Big Mouth" Kevin Holland, who's about as badass and cocky as it gets in the UFC. Maybe that will be his weakness as he gets into a slugfest with a man that can clearly knock him out, but it should damn well be entertaining up to and through that point.
Prediction: Medic by TKO/KO
Matt Hylen -
While Kevin Holland is one of my favorite fighters in the entire UFC, I’m not quite sure how he has stumbled onto another ranked opponent. His win over Randy Brown was fantastic, but this just seems like another matchup that is going to send him right back to where he was before.
As for Uros Medic, this guys power and precision is unbelievable. His defense isn’t the greatest, but he hasn’t needed it lately because he has knocked people out so quickly. So, as much as I am rooting for this not to happen, my gut is telling me that Medic’s power is going to overwhelm Holland and get him out of there early.
Prediction: Medic by TKO/KO
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Drew Dober vs
Chris Duncan
(Duncan -160)
Zak Drapeau -
This fight to me has to be a ranked fight eliminator, with the winner likely getting a Dan Hooker or Renato Moicano-type of fight next. This fight should see Duncan look to mix up the levels against the normally standing-only Dober. Duncan will also have a slight size advantage, though nothing to definitely separate the two.
Dober is coming off back-to-back impressive wins and this fight should be his last and best chance to ever get back into the rankings as he just turned 38-years old a month ago. Meanwhile, Duncan has been flirting with the rankings for over a year now with his last fight being his first in which he got done in by Moicano. Who will win this battle of fighters desperately trying to get a number.... It's REALLY close for me, but I like Duncan's youth and grappling slightly more than Dober's hunger and desparity as he enters the twilight of his career.
Prediction: Duncan by Decision
Matt Hylen -
I’m not sure what to really make of this matchup. I don’t think either Drew Dober or Chris Duncan will make it very far in the rankings, if they even make it at all, but the clash of styles is quite intriguing. Dober has showcased his KO power fully over the last couple of fights, while Duncan‘s grappling and submission game as been on point since his last loss to a ranked opponent.
I usually go against him, but I like Dober in this fight. He’s looked a lot more explosive recently, which makes me think he can absolutely chin a guy like Duncan. This could end up being a clinching fest, but why not go for broke and predict another finish!
Prediction: Dober by TKO/KO
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10Macy Chiasson vs
11Bia Mesquita
(Mesquita -250)
Zak Drapeau -
It's been no secret that both Matt and I are huge Mesquite fans; credit to Matt for putting me on game there. Mesquita is widely considered one of, if not the greatest Jiu Jitsu artists ever and is a perfect 8-0 in MMA with 6 submissions, and 3-0 with 3 submissions in the UFC.
Contrastingly, Macy Chiasson has been on a 3-fight skid over the past 18 months and was talking about retiring even before her loss streak. I don't meant to downplay Chiasson so much, but she is well past her prime and is going against a Woman I feel is a mismatch for anyone in the UFC without elite grappling. Mesquita should add to her submission streak in this one, likely in the 1st round.
Prediction: Mesquita by Submission
Matt Hylen -
I’ve said it a million times in these articles and I’ll say it again, I have been on the Bia Mesquita hype train for years and truly believe she can be a champion in the UFC. Her striking still needs a little bit more work, but it has gone in the right direction with each time she fights. It’s her grappling though that is truly elite. She can take anyone down, anytime, anywhere, and submit you in so many different ways. Macey Chaisson has been up and down recently and has shown flashes of her old self, but this should be a stepping stone for what should be a big fight next for Mesquita. I would truly be shocked if Mesquita doesn’t find a submission within two rounds.
Prediction: Mesquita by Submission
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-Z.D.
-Matt Hylen
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