Josh Hokit does not think Alex Pereira has earned anything.
Pereira posted a video campaigning for a rematch with Ciryl Gane and the interim heavyweight title, saying it looked like something that would happen. Gane knocked him out at UFC Freedom 250 in June. Hokit, who finished Derrick Lewis on that same card, went at him on X.
As a fan, that fight makes no *** sense. I watched you get demolished. How about a more favorable match up like Sergei Pavlovich who is basically a striker and way less athletic than Ciryl. How about you get one *** win in this weight class before you are gifted another title shot.
He widened it out from there.
Growing up, I loved the UFC and all of its fighters. So it gives me great pleasure to use my platform today to speak the truth: neither Ilia Topuria nor Alex Pereira deserve a *** title shot in their next fight. They both got handily destroyed. Make them earn it and fight their way back like everyone else.
Hokit has his own plan for the November card at Madison Square Garden. He wants Gane for himself and Pereira against Pavlovich on the same show. He also argued that Eddie Hearn, who manages Tom Aspinall, is stalling the unification fight to buy time in contract negotiations.
He is not avoiding Pereira. He just wants a belt attached.
Hell, I’d rather see Alex fight me too. Truth is, like most contracts, there’s a championship clause. I make a *** ton more money fighting for that belt than taking a regular fight with him. I’ll fight this guy in a parking lot tomorrow. I would have fought him for free at the press conference in New Jersey. He can’t beat me. But I deserve the title shot if Tom ain’t coming back. And I’d rather make as much money as possible when I do fight.
Gane has already named both men. He told RMC Sport that he wants Aspinall or a Pereira rematch, and that the wait on Aspinall’s eye testing has left the picture unclear. Ariel Helwani has reported that a Pereira and Hokit fight has been under discussion.
