With only four UFC fights on his resume thus far, Josh Hokit is now just one more win away from becoming a champion when he faces Ciryl Gane in the UFC 334 main event, with the heavyweight title going up for grabs.
Hokit’s fast rise came in part because he’s finished three out of his four wins, and he put on a legitimate Fight of the Year in his battle with Curtis Blaydes. But Hokit also got those opportunities because of his outlandish behavior, bizarre trash talk, and controversial outbursts that made him one of the most talked-about athletes on the roster.
Even UFC CEO Dana White has admitted he’s not a fan of Hokit’s antics, but retired welterweight Matt Brown says like it or not, the 28-year-old heavyweight is exactly what the promotion needs from time to time.
“You’ve got to have guys that you don’t like,” Brown said about Hokit on The Fighter vs. The Writer. “That’s what makes it all the more interesting is [some people] or Dana [White] don’t f*cking like him, and he’s playing into that. He’s doing shit specifically so that certain people do not like him. It’s working. I think it’s a good thing for the sport.
“As long as [he doesn’t go too far], like Conor [McGregor] went too far. Over time he evolved, and it became less original. You’ve got to one-up yourself all the time. As he one-upped himself, it went too far.”
McGregor is widely viewed as one of the best trash talkers in combat sports history, but he definitely faced criticism for some of the insults he lobbed at his opponents. As years passed, McGregor was still just as popular, but some of his comments about Khabib Nurmagomedov’s family and religion or Dustin Poirier’s wife finally started to wear on fans.
Brown says that’s where Hokit needs to find a balancing act with his own trash talk, especially now that the spotlight is going to get even brighter leading into his title fight in November.
“A lot of people would argue [Hokit] started to cross the line when he talked about Michelle Obama,” Brown said about Hokit’s post-fight interview at UFC White House in June. “If he keeps going down that line, then it might really start actually turning people off.
“Right now, he’s at that threshold where he’s pissing us off but not really hurting anything. Some people are annoyed by it, but we’re watching. That’s what’s important.”
That said, Brown wasn’t shocked at all to see the UFC vault Hokit into this position with other veteran heavyweight contenders still waiting in the wings.
But Hokit’s title shot serves as a shining example that sometimes wins and losses matter less than drawing the most attention to yourself before a fight.
“My only argument against the whole thing — I think [Alexander] Volkov deserves it more,” Brown said. “I think he’s probably the deserving guy right now to get the title shot over Hokit. Hokit is getting it based off his mouth and based off his antics. Fair enough. Fair game. It’s entertainment, not sport; don’t forget that.
“Deserve is not a word to toss around in this shit; earned is all bullshit. We understand that. I understand why they do it.”
