The UFC heavyweight title picture just went completely off the rails. Alex Pereira’s fans thought they knew what was coming next. Instead, the UFC pulled the rug out from under everyone and announced Ciryl Gane vs. Josh Hokit for UFC 334, just one day after Dana White appeared to point things in a very different direction.

That rematch everyone was talking about? Suddenly, it’s nowhere to be seen. Instead, the UFC dropped the bombshell on social media, announcing that ‘Bon Gamin’ will put his heavyweight title on the line against ‘The Incredible Hok’ on November 14 at Madison Square Garden.

“DOING IT BIG FOR THE BIG APPLE 🚨,” the UFC wrote on X while announcing its return to New York. “We’re bringing a massive card to @TheGarden for #Polymarket #UFC334! [ LIVE NOVEMBER 14 on @ParamountPlus].”

And right there on the poster was the fight nobody seemed to have coming: Ciryl Gane vs. Josh Hokit as the UFC 334 main event, with the return of Kayla Harrison against Amanda Nunes being the co-main.

The announcement came after a pretty wild 24 hours surrounding Gane’s status as heavyweight champion. Just a day earlier, Dana White had made it sound like the Frenchman wasn’t actually the undisputed champ following Tom Aspinall’s exit from the division.

According to the head honcho, Gane would still have to fight for the undisputed title while the UFC figured out what was next for Aspinall.

“Does it make him the undisputed champion? No, he’s still got to fight,” White told Sportsnet’s Diana Belbita. “We’ll see how this whole thing plays out with Aspinall.”

Well, now things changed pretty quickly. Because less than 24 hours later, the UFC was already promoting ‘Bon Gamin’ as the heavyweight champion and booking him to defend that title against Josh Hokit.

According to journalist Adam Martin, Dana White later cleared up the confusion, explaining that he had simply misunderstood the question. Ciryl Gane, in fact, is the undisputed heavyweight champion.

Joe Rogan backed that up during the UFC 311 broadcast, confirming that ‘Bon Gamin’ currently holds the undisputed title and that the UFC CEO had simply misspoken during the press conference.

“Ciryl Gane is now currently the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion,” he said. “Dana White misspoke at a press conference; he said he messed up afterwards.”

So, after all that back-and-forth, the heavyweight title situation is finally clear. And the UFC didn’t waste any time getting to the next chapter.

‘Bon Gamin’ will now have to deal with the undefeated Josh Hokit, who walks into the biggest fight of his career with a perfect 10-0 record.

And this isn’t exactly some random newcomer getting a title shot. ‘The Incredible Hok’ has already racked up four straight UFC wins, including back-to-back victories over heavyweight veterans Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis.

Of course, his rise hasn’t been about what he does inside the Octagon alone. The American has built quite the personality outside it, with his bizarre characters, loud interviews and unapologetically foul-mouthed heel persona turning him into one of the more talked-about figures in the division.

Not everyone has been a fan, either, with his antics drawing plenty of criticism along the way. Now, though, all of that noise takes a back seat.

With Tom Aspinall out of the picture, Josh Hokit has gone from being one of the heavyweight division’s biggest personalities to fighting for the biggest prize in it.

However, there is still no denying that the announcement was particularly surprising because Alex Pereira had spent months campaigning for another fight with Ciryl Gane.

Fans await Alex Pereira’s reaction as UFC snubs ‘Poatan’ for Ciryl Gane vs. Josh Hokit

‘Poatan’ has repeatedly argued that a rematch makes sense after Gane stopped him at UFC Freedom 250, with Alex Pereira maintaining that illegal blows to the back of his head played a role in the defeat.

The former two-division champion has also made it clear that he wanted another opportunity to become a three-division UFC champion and had previously targeted a November return at Madison Square Garden.

Instead, the Brazilian has been left watching Gane move on to a completely different opponent.

Fans immediately noticed the development. One commenter admitted, “I genuinely thought they were going to give Alex the rematch or make Hokit fight Alex for the belt,” while another joked, “Alex Pereira going mad seeing the news 😂.”

A third fan proposed a different route altogether, writing, “Should have been Gane vs [Alexander] Volkov for belt with Hokit fighting Alex for #1 contender.”

Another frustrated fan summed up the reaction with, “How the f— do you fumble Alex vs Hokit man?”

Not everyone was unhappy with the matchup, however. In fact, some fans appeared thrilled by the sheer unpredictability of Gane-Hokit. “Hokit v Gane is about to be generational,” one commenter wrote, while another declared, “Finally the UFC giving us something to look forward to.”

The reactions only became more chaotic from there. One fan joked, “We might witness the first death in the UFC,” while another marveled at Hokit’s rapid rise, writing, “Josh Hokit going from football to fighting Ciryl Gane for the heavyweight title?! 🤯 This matchup is pure chaos 🔥.”

And despite the Pereira frustration, one fan was perfectly happy with the UFC’s decision, simply declaring, “For once, the UFC actually made a good decision.”

For the former two division champion, this is yet another roadblock standing between him and the heavyweight title.

Josh Hokit had already made his stance pretty clear whenever Alex Pereira called for the rematch. ‘The Incredible Hok’ repeatedly argued that the former champion needed to work his way back up after losing to Ciryl Gane. Now, he gets the chance to back up that argument in the Octagon.

And with the Frenchman’s championship status finally cleared up and UFC 334 locked in for November 14 at Madison Square Garden, Alex Pereira is left watching from the sidelines for now.

Whether this latest twist eventually opens another door to the heavyweight belt remains to be seen. But for the moment, the title picture has moved on without him.