Josh Hokit’s wild year and his rise to stardom continued Sunday night at UFC Freedom 250, an event that took place at perhaps the most unique location for an event in mixed martial arts history.
The upstart heavyweight contender is proving to be a unique personality and improved to 10-0 in the sport by making it look easy against the UFC’s all-time knockout leader, Derrick Lewis, in front of the White House.
Hokit, a former standout collegiate wrestler and NFL practice roster player, only started MMA less than three years ago. He trains at the Jackson Wink MMA Academy, and even though his coach, Greg Jackson, wasn’t in his corner for this particular matchup, Hokit used an intelligent game plan to secure the win.
Biding his time until he shot for a takedown a couple minutes into the fight, Hokit began wearing Lewis down with ground strikes. Any time Lewis got close to returning to his feet, he would be dragged back down to the mat by Hokit, who swung around for an armbar attempt late in the first round.
Lewis began the second round aggressively and drew some “Lewis! Lewis!” chants from the crowd, but Hokit didn’t allow the momentum to change hands.
Hokit eventually landed a series of overhand rights that stunned Lewis, who responded by throwing sloppy, slow haymakers as his power bar continued to deplete. Lewis eventually toppled over to the ground, and the fight was called off in the final minute of Round 2.
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This matchup was a late addition to the event in Washington, D.C., which was initially announced as a six-fight card.
Lewis, 41, was added to the event on the personal request of U.S. President Donald Trump, who is a longtime fan of Lewis. Hokit was chosen as Lewis’s opponent after beating Curtis Blaydes in the consensus 2026 Fight of the Year frontrunner less than two months ago.
Hokit went from being unranked to being the No. 5 contender at heavyweight thanks to his incredible three-round performance against Blaydes at UFC 327 on April 11.
The 28-year-old from California has quickly shot to stardom and, within only a few months, has gone from being a promising prospect to being a legitimate title challenger.
In addition to his skill set, Hokit has done a terrific job generating buzz and headlines since earning a UFC contract through Dana White’s Contender Series 10 months ago by using a professional wrestling promotional style before, during and after his fights.
He regularly portrays several different characters, including one referred to as “The Incredible Hok,” who never attends a UFC press event without wearing a matching American flag bandana, gloves and black sunglasses.
The trash talk between Hokit and Lewis was nearly non-existent leading up to Sunday, however, Hokit instead would target superstars Ilia Topuria and Alex Pereira during press events for UFC Freedom 250.
Hokit caused a ruckus during a press conference promoting the White House event a month earlier when he insulted the pair of champions and was escorted off the stage after Topuria threw a water bottle at him. Hokit made a few more attempts to bother Topuria again earlier this week at Friday’s pre-fight press conference but played a more subdued character.
An interim heavyweight title was on the line in Sunday’s co-main event between Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane.
Hokit is now a relevant factor in the UFC’s splintered heavyweight title picture. Former champion Jon Jones is no longer active and current champion Tom Aspinall is recovering from multiple eye surgeries stemming from injuries sustained in his most recent UFC appearance.
Meanwhile, Lewis is nearing the end of his impressive career. Lewis has defeated the likes of Francis Ngannou, Blaydes and Alexander Volkov among many others in the past, but hasn’t beaten a top heavyweight contender in more than five years and was coming off a technical knockout loss to Waldo Cortes-Acosta in January.
Hokit vs. Lewis was one of two American vs. American matchups at UFC Freedom 250. The other saw Bo Nickal stop Kyle Daukaus two fights earlier.