Does ‘The Incredible Hok’ Deserve a Title Shot if He Beats ‘The Black Beast’ at UFC Freedom 250?
There’s much buzz around Josh Hokit following his fight with Curtis Blaydes at UFC 327, and there was much before, too, although not for the same reason. Going into the fight, Hokit was unranked and facing one of the division’s premier gatekeepers. Most of the talk regarding him was centered on his antics. Hokit was seen adopting a loud, over-the-top, pro-wrestling style persona, spending the entire week cutting promos to the media. Some thought they were hilarious, some thought they were cringeworthy, but nobody was bored, and that seemed to be exactly what Hokit was going for. When the cage door closed before the third-to-last fight on the bill, everyone watching was asking themselves the same question. Was Josh Hokit just a talker, or a contender?
He’s a contender. He went at Blaydes right from the start, charging into him and wobbling him before being rocked hard himself. That seemed to be the story of the entire fight. Hokit would blitz Blaydes and send him reeling with his lightning-fast hands, and just when it seemed like ‘Razor’ was done, he would come back with an offering that would tip the scales in his favor. After 15 minutes of action, Hokit was the winner of possibly the greatest fight in the division’s history.
What followed was historic. Immediately after his victory over Blaydes, Dana White announced that Hokit would be fighting Derrick ‘The Black Beast’ Lewis on the June White House card, which was revealed in incomplete form at UFC 326. Lewis, although old and appearing unimpressive recently, has proven time and time again that he’s not to be doubted. Plus, if Hokit eats punches from the man with the most knockouts in UFC history, it’s unlikely the fight will go as well for him as it did against Blaydes.
Victories over both Blaydes and Lewis would put Hokit firmly within the ranks of the division’s elite, and the question remains: would a victory over Derrick Lewis lead to a title shot for Josh Hokit? The answer is no. Many detractors of Hokit getting a title shot would argue that Derrick Lewis was not a good enough win to warrant a shot at the belt, but in a heavyweight division that is largely stagnant and an era of the UFC where popularity trumps merit, that seems unlikely to be an issue. The real issue is scheduling. Hokit has been incredibly active so far, and after the interim championship bout is decided at the White House card, Hokit will have to wait for Tom Aspinall to face the winner of a fight between Ciryl Gane and Alex Pereira before he can get a shot at the belt. With his track record of activity, it’s likely he’ll take another fight in the meantime.
