Derrick Lewis has been in the UFC for a long time and seen a lot, but he’s never seen someone quite like Josh Hokit.
On Friday, the UFC held its first press conference for UFC White House, the marquee event of the summer, where Lewis will face Hokit in a preliminary heavyweight bout. The presser featured all 14 fighters that will compete on the card, and mostly went according to plan, until Hokit got going.
Hokit has risen to prominence over the past few months with a pro-wrestling persona, and “The Incredible Hok” was on full display on Friday, taking any chance he got to spew rhyming insults at Lewis and Alex Pereira. Hokit’s outlandish behavior eventually drew the ire of lightweight champion Ilia Topuria, and they nearly came to blows, leading to Hokit’s removal from the presser.
And even Lewis, who has over 30 fights in the UFC, was shocked at the whole ordeal.
“I don’t know, it was crazy,” Lewis told Megan Olivi afterward. “It was probably one of the craziest press conferences I’ve been a part of.”
For all Hokit’s antics, they didn’t seem to have the desired effect of getting a reaction from Lewis. “The Black Beast” barely responded to Hokit during the presser and maintained afterward that he doesn’t have much to say about the man.
“I really couldn’t hear nothing he was saying,” Lewis said. “I really couldn’t. I tried, I couldn’t. …
“I really never watched none of his fights, so I really don’t know. I really don’t know nothing about him. But I’ve heard that he’s just a clown. That’s all.”
UFC White House takes place on June 14, and is headlined by a lightweight title fight between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje.
Read the full article here
