Daniel Cormier knows Josh Hokit irritates people. That is his argument.
Tom Aspinall vacated the heavyweight title this week over ongoing complications with his eyes, injured when Ciryl Gane poked him at UFC 321 last October. He had multiple surgeries and was gearing up for a rematch when, according to MMA Junkie, a training accident left him medically uncleared. Gane is expected to be promoted from interim champion.
That leaves the question of who is next. Cormier gave his answer on his YouTube channel.
Ciryl Gane should defend the heavyweight championship against Josh Hokit. That’s the fight. I know that Josh Hokit annoys some. I know that Josh Hokit has come at me. I know that Josh Hokit can be a bit much. But I believe that if you’re moving on from Tom Aspinall right now, I believe Josh Hokit should be some part of the next heavyweight title fight.
His case is about eyeballs as much as merit.
He will compete with him because he’s not afraid of him. He will sell. Even in that selling, he is pissing people off. He will bring eyes to the event. Josh Hokit has attacked Alex Pereira at a White House press conference, he’s beaten Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis since getting into the UFC, he is undefeated, he is brash, he’s cocky. Josh Hokit is the type of heavyweight contender that, even if you show up to hate him, you will still show up. I have no doubt in my mind it should be Hokit fighting for the UFC heavyweight championship.
The record is short and loud. Hokit is 10-0 overall and 4-0 in the UFC, having outlasted Blaydes in a Fight of the Year contender at UFC 327 and knocked out Lewis at UFC Freedom 250 inside two months.
He has not been quiet about wanting it either. Hokit spent last week arguing that neither Pereira nor Ilia Topuria deserves a title shot coming off a loss, and responded to Aspinall vacating by saying he would give Gane what he has coming.
Pereira is the competition. He has been campaigning publicly for a Gane rematch since losing to him in June, and Gane has named him as the fallback if Aspinall is unavailable.
