Long before he was cutting promos in the UFC and becoming one of the fastest rising stars in the heavyweight division, Josh Hokit was a two-sport athlete at Fresno State University where he compete in both wrestling and football.
While he eventually turned his full focus to football, which landed him in the NFL for a couple of seasons as a practice squad player, Hokit earned a spot in the NCAA Championships in wrestling at 197 pounds as the No. 16 seed back in 2019. That slot put him in the unenviable
position to go up against Penn State’s Bo Nickal, who was seeking his third straight national title during his senior year of college as the No. 1 overall seed.
As expected, Nickal dominated the match, scoring multiple takedowns on Hokit, who struggled to deal with the explosive athleticism on display from the future UFC middleweight. After nearly scoring a pin earlier in the match, Nickal was up 10-2 with time running out in the first period when he put Hokit in another difficult position.
Nickal grabbed a front headlock and eventually turned Hokit over and he landed on top, once again seeking to end the match before time expired.
In MMA terms, it looked like Nickal was almost in a mounted guillotine choke position but in wrestling he maintained control on the head as he pressed down on Hokit with the referee calling the match due to pinfall.
Nickal immediately tried to help Hokit up from the mat but he passed on that offer, eventually getting back to his feet on his own.
While Hokit lost the match in lopsided fashion, Nickal actually paid homage to him on Twitter after watching his former opponent score a victory over Curtis Blaydes at UFC 327 on Saturday night.
“Josh Hokit was the only guy I wrestled my senior year of college who actually tried to beat me and not just stall,” Nickal said.
Nickal did capture his third NCAA title that year with three pins along the way before he fell short from making the 2020 U.S. Olympic wrestling team when he was defeated by fellow Penn State alum and future gold medalist David Taylor.
Nickal then turned his attention towards MMA where he remains one of the top prospects in the sport and he’ll next share a card with Hokit as they both compete at the upcoming UFC White House card on June 14.
