Surging heavyweight Josh Hokit went on tirade on social media after former two-division UFC champion Alex Pereira posted a video campaigning for a rematch with Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight belt.
In a series of X posts targeting Pereira and making his case for the next shot at Gane, Hokit criticized the idea that Pereira and Ilia Topuria could challenge for belts next after both got finished by Gane and Justin Gaethje this past June at UFC White House, respectively.
“As a fan, that fight makes no fucking sense,” wrote Hokit, who finished Derrick Lewis on that same card. “I watched you get demolished. How about a more favorable match up like Sergei [Pavlovitch] who is basically a striker & way less athletic than Ciryl. How about you get one fucking win in this weight class before you are gifted another title shot.”
“Growing up, I loved the UFC & all of its fighters,” he continued on a separate post. “So it gives me great pleasure to use my platform today to speak the truth: neither Ilia Topuria nor Alex Pereira deserve a fucking title shot in their next fight. They both got handily destroyed. Make them earn it and fight their way back like everyone else.“
Hokit argued that Tom Aspinall’s manager Eddie Hearn is “obviously” stalling to “buy time in contract negotiations” instead of working on a deal for a title unification bout with Gane. Hokit suggests, then, booking him versus Gane on the upcoming Madison Square Garden show November in New York, while Pereira battles Pavlovich on the same card.
Hokit insisted he would gladly face Pereira next, guaranteeing “I would beat the piss out of him in a MMA, fist fight,” but making it for a UFC belt would be more lucrative.
“Hell, I’d rather see Alex fight me too,” Hokit wrote. “Truth is, like most contracts, there’s a championship clause. I make a shit ton more money fighting for that belt than taking a regular fight with him. I’ll fight this motherfucker in a parking lot tomorrow. I would have fought him for free at the press conference in New Jersey. He can’t beat me. But I deserve the title shot if Tom ain’t coming back. And I’d rather make as much money as possible when I do fight.”
