Josh Hokit Calls Other MMA Fighters Lazy Ahead of UFC White House
josh hokit said other MMA fighters are lazy because they avoid putting themselves out there and putting things on the line. The UFC heavyweight said he would rather give a big fight than give normal answers and then produce a bad fight, and he tied that view to the way fighters sell themselves before the opening bell.
He also said he is grateful for the UFC giving him the opportunity to fight and wants to make the most of it. Hokit, who has gone 3-0 in the UFC and earned three post-fight bonuses, has been using different characters in his fight builds since signing with the promotion.
Hokit And White
At the UFC 327 post-fight press conference, Dana White said, “I’m one of them [that doesn’t like his character],” before reversing course after the fight. White added, “He walked the talk tonight. When people come out and say stupid shit and have sort of a schtick, it’s not my thing. But nothing but respect for both of those men tonight.”
White went further after that result. “That fight was unbelievable. You won’t hear a word out of me from here on out about him. Like I said, he walked the talk.”
Hokit said that reaction fits the way he approaches promotion. “Now, would Dana want it… and I’m grateful for the UFC, I mean, for even giving me that opportunity. Wow,” he said ahead of UFC White House. He added, “When I shake their hand, I’m like, thank you for this opportunity, I’m going to make the most of it, and you could even ask them before, the Curtis Blaydes face-off, I’m like, I’m going to make the most of it, just watch.”
Derrick Lewis At UFC White House
That approach now sits beside a bigger assignment. Hokit is scheduled to face Derrick Lewis at UFC White House, where Lewis arrives as the UFC's all-time knockout leader after a lopsided stoppage loss to Waldo Cortes-Acosta at UFC 324 in January.
Hokit said some fighters are trapped by the image they want to project. “I think MMA fighters are getting too caught up in, being the macho man or the stoicism, and the polite guy,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going on in their mind. I just think they’re lazy and they don’t want to put themselves out there and put things on the line, put pressure on themselves. So they kind of go into a shell.”
He offered the tradeoff in plain terms. “But it’s like, would you rather me talk a normal big game, ‘Oh, we’re going to go to war, we’re going to do this, we’re going to do that.’ Normal answers, normal person, and then I could give you a shit show of a fight, you know what I’m saying? So it’s like, what’s important here?”
Batman Quote And Pressure
Hokit said people usually land in one of two camps when they watch his approach. “People either think I’m cringy or give me credit for trying,” he said, before adding, “What comes to mind is the Batman quote, ‘You die a hero or live long enough to see yourself as a villain.’”
That line fits the path he has taken since signing with the UFC. He has mixed different characters into his promotion, collected three bonuses, and kept winning at 3-0 while White’s view shifted after UFC 327. The next test is Lewis, and the matchup gives Hokit a chance to keep the talk tied to the fight itself.
