Josh Hokit’s intentionally offensive show keeps rolling. The UFC heavyweight title contender scored a one-sided second-round TKO win over a listless Derrick Lewis at UFC Freedom 250 on Saturday night at the White House. Hokit’s win was huge for his career, but per usual, the brash and performative American used his post-fight interview to call out Alex Pereira and to insult former first lady Michelle Obama.
After Hokit used Pereira’s signature term to mock him and insult the Brazilian’s mother, the former then said, “Michelle Obama is a man. Am I right, America?”
At this point, no one was surprised, because Hokit has seemingly decided to routinely say the most outlandish thing that spills into his brain. The Obama insult tracks with Hokit’s caricatured political stance and verbal assaults designed to draw the ire of minorities and others.
Here’s the finish.
Here’s the entire post-fight interview.
Former MMA bad guy Chael Sonnen seemed to approve of Hokit’s antics.
In case you’re wondering whether Hokit will be fined or penalized, no, he won’t. That’s not how the UFC works. UFC President Dana White has routinely defended freedom of speech from his fighters — no matter how reckless they are with their words.
It would be foolish to get angry about Hokit’s comments. That’s essentially what he wants. He’s fighting as hard for attention as he is to win fights in the Octagon. If it weren’t my job to cover potentially viral events in combat sports, I would have publicly ignored his actions.
Quite frankly, my advice to any combat sports fan or anyone else offended: keep it to yourselves. It’ll be more effective than making it a thing.
Here is a look at all of the results from UFC Freedom 250.
- Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje
- Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane
- Sean O’Malley vs. Aieman Zahabi
- Josh Hokit def. Derrick Lewis via second-round TKO
- Mauricio Ruffy def. Michael Chandler via first-round TKO
- Bo Nickal def. Kyle Daukaus via first-round TKO
- Diego Lopes def. Steve Garcia via second-round KO
The event was packed with celebrities and stars like Triple H, Roman Reigns, Mark Zuckerberg, Tyson Fury and others. The historic outdoor venue created a different visual than any other UFC event in history. However, despite an event packed with finishes, the atmosphere was a bit dead due to the smaller crowd in the venue and a lack of overall energy.