UFC heavyweight Josh Hokit has doubled down on the viral comment that nearly derailed the post-fight broadcast at UFC Freedom 250, as the loud-mouthed UFC heavyweight claims him calling Michelle Obama a ‘man’ was actually meant as a compliment.

Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show, ‘The Incredible Hok’ addressed the controversy and said that people completely misunderstood what he meant.

“I thought I was giving her a compliment,” he said. “Michelle Obama being a man … it’s like, she knows how to deal with adversity. She knows how to work hard like a man when the times get tough.”

The explanation comes after Josh Hokit sparked a firestorm on the White House South Lawn after his TKO win over Derrick Lewis in the second round.

“And lastly, Michelle Obama is a man. Am I right, America?” he screamed on the mic during his post-fight interview.

When Ariel Helwani pointed out that almost no one online took the comment as praise, ‘The Incredible Hok’ moved the conversation towards free speech instead.

“I thought it was a perfect opportunity to show the world how great this country is with freedom of speech,” he said. “You go somewhere [else in the world], and you say something like that, and you die. And I’m not suicidal by the way. I’m in good spirits.

“There’s a certain side that pokes at another side, and there’s no outrage there, and so I thought it was a perfect time to take a jab.”

Well, it seems like there are limits to free speech. And you know that’s true when someone like Dana White, who is a stern supporter of the idea that one should always be able to speak their minds, drew a line when talking about the rising heavyweight’s very controversial statement.

“I understand that the Obamas are public figures, but I’m completely against saying nasty and false things about people’s families,” he told Time Magazine. “Everyone knows my position on free speech, but I hate that kind of nonsense.”

This is the same man who defended Sean Strickland‘s freedom of speech during the buildup to UFC 297 in January 2024, when ‘Tarzan’ didn’t mince words talking against transgender acceptance, LGBTQ activism, and then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Even then, Dana White showed support for his fighter’s right to speak what he wants.

“I don’t f—— tell any other human being what to say, what to think, and there’s no leashes on any of them,” he said at the UFC 297 post-event presser. “That’s ridiculous to say I give somebody a leash.

“Free speech, brother. People can say whatever they want. They can believe whatever they want.”

But this time, Josh Hokit seems to have crossed a line even for the UFC CEO. So, would the heavyweight like to apologize for it? Not exactly. The 28-year-old insists he has no intention of walking back his words, unlike other fighters who later regretted parts of their speech and public personas.

“That’s one thing about my career,” he continued. “I’m never gonna, you know… I think I was watching a (Henry) Cejudo video, and he was like, ‘That’s one thing I regret, is like all the stuff I did.’ Or you hear people backtrack, even the (Sean) Strickland post-fight speech where he was like, ‘I’m trying to sell the fight, and I don’t mean the things I say.’

“I mean, you’ll never, you’ll never hear me backtrack from what I say.”

For the unaware, Henry Cejudo once indirectly admitted to Joe Rogan that he was done with parts of his overly theatrical, hyper-exaggerated ‘King of Cringe’ persona that he used to build hype.

“Triple C is out,” Cejudo told Joe Rogan after retiring. “You guys don’t have to hear my a– no more.”

As for Sean Strickland, ‘The Incredible Hok’ was referencing the UFC middleweight’s recent post-fight speech at UFC 328.

Despite months of intense, personal trash talk with Khamzat Chimaev that created ultra-hype for the fight, ‘Tarzan’ quickly apologized to fans after their 25-minute fight, claiming he went too far just to sell pay-per-views.

“I just want to apologize to my American fans, to my Muslim fans and my Christian fans,” Strickland said in the post-fight interview. “I went too f—— hard. I’ll admit it. I respect all you guys.

“Chechnya has great fighters. They’re savage. He’s a f—– savage. I should be a better f—— example but I try to sell these fights for you f—–. I appreciate you.”

But while Josh Hokit continues standing by his comments, UFC CEO Dana White has once again made it clear that he isn’t happy about the situation.

Josh Hokit’s free speech stance meets resistance from Dana White

According to Dana White, while what Josh Hokit said was “stupid,” it was the timing and the occasion that made it even worse.

“You think I’m happy about what Josh Hokit said?” He said during a conversation with Tomi Lahren. “You know, that the night that I’m trying to unify the country, he goes out and says something absolutely stupid like he did that night.

“But I am a believer of free speech, too. So, I don’t know. We just let everybody be themselves, do their thing, and, you know, there’s a lot of things that some of my guys say that I don’t love.”

However, despite Dana White’s public criticism, Josh Hokit revealed to Ariel Helwani that neither Dana White nor UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell has actually reached out to him privately.

“Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, I don’t, I don’t care,” he told Helwani. “I mean, now, I’m not trying to p— off the Dana Whites and Hunter Campbells and all the, like, but they would also message me if they really felt like a certain way.

“Yeah, they could comment and stuff like that, but if they really felt a type of way, they would message me.”

So, it looks like the head honcho’s very public backlash seemed to have had little effect on Josh Hokit’s plans for his future career. For ‘The Incredible Hok,’ friction is just part of the territory when you choose to speak your thoughts without a corporate filter, and he is completely prepared to deal with the consequences.