Sean Strickland criticizes Josh Hokit for ‘acting like f*cking Jake Paul when he was 13,’ Hokit responds

Sean Strickland is one of the most outspoken fighters on the entire UFC roster but even he believes there are limits when it comes to saying crazy stuff to get attention.

He didn’t have to look any further than fast-rising heavyweight star Josh Hokit, who is undefeated in the UFC and about to fight Derrick Lewis at the UFC White House card in June, but the former NFL player turned fighter has built a persona around rehearsed lines and outlandish behavior that even Dana White has said he doesn’t enjoy

whatsoever. Strickland, who faces Khamzat Chimaev in the UFC 328 main event on Saturday, took aim at Hokit during a media scrum on Tuesday while comparing the heavyweight prospect to online streamers and influencers who do just about anything to get attention.

“It’s like Josh Hokit. It’s like dude, you’re a grown ass man,” Strickland said. “You’re almost 30 years old and you’re acting like f*cking Jake Paul when he was 13. Like stop, bro. You made it. People know who you are. Just stop. You don’t got to go interview homeless people and be f*cking weird. Just fight now.”

Of course, Hokit has seemingly embraced all of the attention he’s received.

Whether that’s when he’s invoking his best Thuganomics era John Cena by rhyming every line during a press conference, or media day appearance, or threatening to throw down with Jiri Prochazka just days before both of them are scheduled to compete on the same card.

Hokit rarely drops his act for anybody but considering the UFC matched him up against a former title challenger like Curtis Blaydes in only his third fight for the promotion and now he’s facing Lewis on the UFC White House card, something must be working.

It’s just not working for Strickland whatsoever.

“The thing I don’t like about Josh and I’ve met Josh, I’ve trained with Josh — he’s actually a really likeable guy,” Strickland said. “He came to the gym, he’s a really nice guy, consider him a friend of mine. We follow each other on [Instagram].

“But at some point it’s such a fabricated image, it reminds you of a WWE skit, that I just want it to die.”

Strickland might want to check his followers after those comments because Hokit didn’t waste any time responding with his own challenge aimed at the former UFC middleweight champion.

“Let’s fight… I’ll show you the difference between me and Jake Paul,” Hokit wrote on Twitter.

“[Sean] Strickland, complaining about a persona is like a circus clown complaining about too many balloons. You’re just mad because my WWE skit has better ratings than your personality.”