UFC 327 was a memorable card filled with wild moments, but Josh Hokit’s arrival as an elite Heavyweight may stand the test of time more than the rest of the event (watch highlights).
I can’t even say Hokit talked a big game leading up to his main card matchup versus Curtis Blaydes, as “big” doesn’t accurately describe the weirdness of his pre-fight personas. Sometimes, Hokit was yelling wildly in a truly bad Mexican accent, while other moments saw Hokit jittery, nervously whispering to himself about
how he was going to get beat up.
It almost crossed the line from rage bait to performance art.
Fortunately, Hokit’s performance in the cage is much easier to describe. In a single word: great! What else would you call it when a prospect with just eight professional fights to his name gets in the face of a former world title challenger to score a bloody, decisive victory? That’s an outstanding result for any level of experience, let alone a young up-and-comer.
There’s a lot to like about Hokit as an athlete. Right away, Hokit’s hand speed jumps off the screen. He was tagging Blaydes with right hands almost immediately, putting fist to target before Blaydes could even begin to throw his jab. Even late in the fight while dog-tired, Hokit could burst forward with four-punch combos that landed with scary accuracy.
Admittedly, we knew going into this fight that Hokit was quick, the advantage of being an undersized Heavyweight. I was more surprised and impressed by his level of comfort in the cage. Blaydes hit him with serious shots, yet Hokit managed to roll with a lot of them. Hokit continued to react well late in the fight while severely fatigued, a testament to how relaxed he was while trading power shots with an elite Heavyweight.
That’s far from normal behavior for a man in his ninth professional fight, but it’s an invaluable trait. Not only did Hokit stay relaxed in exchanges, but he had the presence of mind to remain in character mid-fight and remember his prepared couple paragraphs of nonsense in the post-fight interview.
Truly bizarre.
For all the praise, I do have to admit some reservations as well, with the most obvious question mark being size. Hokit did not try to implement his wrestling against the much bigger man in Blaydes, and one wonders if he would have similar hesitation against a large, strong Heavyweight like Sergei Pavlovich. There’s also the simple fact that Hokit was hit many times by a man with subpar hand speed and power for the division. Again, it’s hard not to imagine a worse outcome for Hokit if it were Waldo Cortes-Acosta landing all those right hands.
Already, Hokit’s next bout has been booked, a somewhat short-notice collision versus Derrick Lewis at the UFC White House card (details here). “The Black Beast” has declined significantly in recent years, losing some of the grit and durability that allowed him to become a divisional mainstay for so many years. At the same time, he’s still a massive Heavyweight with ungodly power.
It’s simple to envision Hokit quickly overwhelming Lewis with speed, takedowns, and right hands. It’s equally feasible to imagine Hokit getting bombed by a Lewis right hand like so many before him.
What’s fun for Hokit is that Light Heavyweight will always be an option for his back pocket. I would hazard a guess that Paulo Costa, the former Middleweight who competed at 205 pounds for the first time in the UFC 327 co-main event, weighed roughly the same as Hokit on fight night. If the Heavyweights ever do prove too large for “The Incredible Hok,” cutting weight and contending in the class below would be an obvious solution.
One way or another, Hokit and his multiple personalities are here to stay.
