Josh
Hokit claims he is trying to help Justin
Gaethje by getting Ilia
Topuria riled up.
Hokit has recently developed animosity with Topuria leading up to
their respective fights at
UFC Freedom 250 on Sunday at the White House. Hokit went off on
Topuria at the pre-fight press conference at the Lincoln
Memorial. Hokit briefly praised Topuria and apologized for previous
comments before insulting the lightweight champion’s ex-wife. Dana
White shut down the presser immediately after Hokit’s comments
about Topuria’s ex-wife.
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Hokit claims he was trying to get Topuria riled up. While Hokit
fights at heavyweight, he believes the fighters in the lower weight
classes were in a foul mood as they were already enduring weight
cuts during the press conference. Hokit hopes he got under
Topuria’s skin enough to affect his performance against Gaethje in
the main event.
Necessary Assistance
“You wanna be a weight bully? That’s the consequence,” Hokit told
told The Schmo. “You can’t have fun at the
press conference. So now you’re all serious, and you’re getting mad
at this guy that’s trolling you. We’ll see if it plays a factor in
the fight. I was kind of helping out Justin
Gaethje for America. I felt like that was necessary. I felt
like it went well, though.”
Hokit has made a habit of justifying his beefs as a helping hand to
fellow American fighters. Hokit’s feud with Topuria started at a
press conference last month. “The Incredible Hok” made unprovoked
derogatory comments about Alex
Pereira’s mother, which infuriated Topuria. Topuria, who has
developed a new friendship with Pereira, stood up in his defense,
hitting Hokit with a glass of water. Hokit later claimed that he
had laid the perfect setup for Sean O’Malley, who also fights at
the White House, to plot a future fight with Topuria. Hokit (9-0)
is scheduled to fight Derrick
Lewis (29-13) on Sunday at the White House.