You can read UFC broadcaster Bruce Buffer among us, who isn’t really into the whole Josh Hokit thing. Buffer revealed as much while hanging out with N3on, the newest paid content creator currently in MMA.
Buffer said he didn’t like what Hokit said after his UFC Freedom 250 win over Derrick Lewis in June. Buffer is on the same page as Dana White when it comes to that.
As you might expect, Hokit had something to say about all this. He hopped on X and addressed Buffer’s concerns.
“I talk trash in the Octagon, but the men on this list have actual criminal records and rape allegations,” Hokit wrote. “I don’t have a criminal record, but I’m not classy enough? You do realize we’re in the gladiator business, right? Are men who try to kill other men really supposed to be your role models?”
Like many fighters who talk continuouslyHokit has managed to sprinkle something that makes a bit of sense into all the pantomime he usually does. A UFC Code of Conduct policy may exist, but it hasn’t been enforced or seriously considered in years (I wonder what Miguel Torres thinks about that).
Even if a code of conduct were rules to live by, there’s nothing there that says these guys have to be role models. I will not let my child watch this stuff or listen to what these fighters have to say. For that matter, there are far better places to look.
Hokit is right to be hurt businesswhich is born of vices and exists to supplement gambling and drinking. By buffering it as a noble endeavor and pure family fun, it seems like he’s trying to justify it all to himself more than anything else.
A few more interesting tips can be read here from Hokit’s short message. He literally said “gladiator” to describe what he does. I once interviewed an Italian fighter, Alessio Di Chirico, and he asked people to stop calling MMA fighters that. “Gladiators were slaves,” he said—which is correct (though some adopted that life by choice). Given how much control the UFC has over a fighter, Hokit’s description is perhaps more apt than di Chirico would like to admit. I’m sure Sean Strickland would agree with that.
It’s also interesting that Hokit mentioned a criminal record and rape allegations. He trains at Jackson-Wink. I wonder if it makes things a little frosty when he sees Jon Jones and Gable Steveson in the gym.
Role model or not, Hokit will fight for the UFC heavyweight title in November, much to my dismay Alex Pereira. It can be uncomfortable in a cage if it’s time for Hoki to be notified and acknowledged by the buffer.
