Josh Hokit is set to square off with Derrick Lewis from the South Lawn of the White House later this month, and in a recent interview, he seemed to drop his usual trademark antics as he discussed his approach to marketing himself as an athlete.
Hokit (9-0) currently finds himself on a three-fight win streak in the UFC’s heavyweight division since earning his contract on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2025. In his most recent outing back in April, he secured an upset by a unanimous decision over Curtis Blaydes, which ultimately led to his late addition to the UFC Freedom 250 card on June 14th after reportedly impressing the president.
During a press conference for the upcoming event last month, Hokit’s on-mic persona hit a new all-time high, rhyming his way through a disrespectful callout of Alex Pereira, and sending personal shots the way of Ilia Topuria as well. But in this interview on Thursday, Hokit came with no character, and even discussed how he interacts with the fans in order to garner a following, or ‘disconnects from’ as the fighter put it.
“Connect or disconnect. I think I’m on the disconnect side. I really disconnect with the fans,” Hokit said, speaking like his normal self. “That’s an interesting choice of words. It’s in our human nature to connect with people. People don’t even want to take it to the other side. Me? I don’t mind it too much as long as (the UFC is) giving me certain fights and paying me a certain amount of money. I mean, everyone could hate me for all that I care. Just get the money, and one day I won’t have to be bothering anybody anymore. I’ll just be on a lake somewhere, on a boat not bothering anybody. Until then, I’m gonna be really disconnecting with people.“
(h/t MMA Junkie)
Prior to his shot on the Contender Series, which he capitalized on with a second-round knockout, Hokit went 3-0 in the LFA between January and May 2025. Then, he had his DWCS appearance in August, followed by the first-round knockout of Max Gimenis in November in his UFC debut. This rounded off the completion of not only winning five times in 2025, but securing finishes in each outing as well (4 KO, 1 Sub).