What does it take to save the USA? For a UFC White House card fighter, beating former middleweight champion Sean Strickland and reigning 185 lbs king Khamzat Chimaev would do the job. For that to happen, the American star is even ready to shake hands with a bitter rival.
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Ahead of his June 14 clash with Derrick Lewis, heavyweight star Josh Hokit wants to team up with Paulo Costa to take on Sean Strickland and Khamzat Chimaev in a WWE-style Hell in a Cell match.
“If the UFC really wanted to save the sport, we need a UFC-sanctioned Hell in a Cell 2V2 w/ no referees,” Josh Hokit wrote on X. “Imagine The Incredible Hok & @BorrachinhaMMA vs. Chechen gangster, aka (25 min crotch sniffer) & the guy who talks about fighting to the death, then proceeds to spam jabs & teeps while screaming like a madman the last 10 seconds of his fights.”
“Chance to take out a Foreign T–t & Domestic T—t in one night. Paulo & I do it for JESUS, DJT & the free world. We are all close to the same size when not cutting weight. Fight to the death. Winners get Conor-level money the rest of their careers.”
Hell in a Cell is a WWE specialty no-disqualification match that features a large steel cage where two or more wrestlers, often in a grudge match, compete against each other. The fight only ends when a fighter submits or pins the opponent, making it an intriguing match-up for the audience. Though it’s almost impossible the UFC would sanction such a match-up, why did Hokit want his bitter rival Paulo Costa to fight alongside him?
After ‘The Incredible Hok’ won his UFC 327 fight against Curtis Blaydes, the promotion awarded him $200K in two bonuses for Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night ($100K each). Paulo Costa, who also scored a brutal knockout over previously undefeated Azamat Murzakanov on the same night, was livid that he didn’t receive any performance bonuses. Highly disappointed, the Brazilian texted Hokit to give his share on social media, which sparked their rivalry.
Following that spark of rivalry, Josh Hokit shared another clip of Paulo Costa laughing at his jokes during the press conference, seemingly squashing the beef. Well, it’s not clear whether they completely became friends. However, the reason the American star called out a match-up against Sean Strickland and Khamzat Chimaev could stem from the fact that ‘Borrachinha’ has beef with both ‘Tarzan’ and ‘Borz’.
Costa called Strickland a “soy boy” ahead of their UFC 302 bout and labeled the former middleweight champ as having a “liberal chin,” taking a dig at his political views. On the other hand, the Brazilian has a long-standing personal beef with Chimaev that started with ‘Borrachina’ accusing the Chechen-Emirati of sending “dirty texts” to his girlfriend. In that case, Hokit cleverly put storylines together to propose a WWE-style grudge match. But beyond supporting Costa, what’s in it for the American UFC star?
Josh Hokit doesn’t publicly have any rivalry with Chimaev, other than his clear dislike of the Chechen-Emirati’s wrestling-based style, as per his social media posts. Also, the Californian doesn’t have any clear animosity with Strickland either.
But, Hokit did say he left the “liberal snowflake NFL” after winning Dana White’s Contender Series. In that case, the American star may have found common ground with his rival Costa in disagreement with the former middleweight champ’s political views, which might have propelled him to “save America” by taking on ‘Tarzan’.
Josh Hokit calls for a 2V2 Hell in a Cell match with Paulo Costa on his team against Khamzat and Strickland 😂 “Chance to take out a Foreign Terror*st and Domestic Terror*st in one night”
Now, as Josh Hokit talked about a really out-of-the-box clash in WWE style, it clearly came from his pro-wrestling-inspired persona. For fans who often wonder why Hokit embraces that character, he shed some light on that as well.
Josh Hokit calls out UFC fighters for having a lack of personality
Right after Hokit won the UFC contract, he stole fans’ attention with his Chael Sonnen and WWE-inspired character. His brash personality became the talk of the MMA world after he dressed up as a Mexican and had a surprising confrontation with Jiri Prochazka at the UFC 327 media day.
Though many found his antics “cringe,” Hokit backed it up with his performance in Miami against Curtis Blaydes. Now, he has explained why he embraces that persona more than other fighters, while also taking a shot at others who lack a strong character.
“The sad part is, all these fighters, that’s the thing with the day and age that we live in,” Hokit said on SmashCast. “Back then, you had wild men. So you had all these personalities, everyone going crazy, everyone more interesting. Now, it’s like these real athletes. They’re really holding onto their image, like, ‘How can I be cool?’”
Well, many might disagree with the American star, arguing that every fighter builds stardom in their own way. And they might be right. But Dustin Poirier comparing Hokit to Conor McGregor after his latest win shows his verbose character is definitely bringing attention.
That said, what do you think about the American fighter’s proposal of a Hell in a Cell match?
