You can count UFC ring announcer Bruce Buffer among those of us who aren’t really into the whole Josh Hokit thing. Buffer revealed as much while walking around with N3on, the latest pay-to-play content creator who is all over MMA right now.
Buffer said he didn’t like what Hokit said after his UFC Freedom 250 win over Derrick Lewis in June. Buffer’s on the same page as Dana White when it comes to that
.Buffer called Hokit “disrespectful” and then suggested that he wasfailing at being a role model for
young people.
As you’d expect, Hokit had something to say about all this. He jumped onto X and responded to Buffer’s concerns.
“I talk trash in the Octagon, but guys on this roster have actual criminal records and rape charges,” wrote Hokit. “I have no criminal record, yet I’m not classy enough? You realize we are in the gladiator business, right? Should men who try to kill other men, really be your role model?”
Like so many fighters who talk constantly, Hokit has managed to sprinkle in something that makes a little sense between all the pantomiming he usually does. The UFC’s code of conduct policy may exist, but it’s not been enforced or considered seriously for years now (I wonder what Miguel Torres thinks about that).
Even if the code of conduct were rules to live by, there’s nothing in there that states these guys have to be role models. I don’t let my kid watch this stuff or listen to what these fighters have to say. There are plenty of better places to look when it comes to that.
Hokit is right that he’s in the hurt business, something that was born out of vice and exists to complement gambling and drinking. Buffer dressing this up as a noble pursuit and good clean family fun sounds like he might be trying to justify it all to himself more than anything else.
There were a few other interesting tidbits that can be gleamed from Hokit’s brief message here. He literally said “gladiator” to describe what he does. I once interviewed Italian fighter Alessio Di Chirico and he implored folks to stop calling MMA fighters that. “Gladiators were slaves,” he said — which is correct (though some did adopt that life by choice). Given how much control UFC has over a fighter, though, perhaps Hokit’s description is more apt than di Chirico would like to admit. I’m sure Sean Strickland would agree on that.
It’s also interesting that Hokit mentioned criminal records and rape charges. He trains at Jackson-Wink. I wonder if that will make things a little frosty if and when he sees Jon Jones and Gable Steveson around the gym.
Role model or not, Hokit is set to fight for the UFC heavyweight title in November, much to the chagrin of Alex Pereira. It might be awkward in the cage when it’s time for Buffer to announce and aggrandize Hokit.
