Josh Hokit, through an unlikely set of circumstances, will be fighting Ciryl Gane for the undisputed heavyweight title atop the UFC 334 fight card on Nov. 14 in New York City.
One fighter who is no longer in the conversation, at least when it comes to the next 265-pound title shot, is Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson, who got knocked clean out by Sean Sharaf at UFC 331 earlier this month in Los Angeles.
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“This is a whole different game,” Hokit told Ariel Helwani. “I heard [Steveson is] not practicing properly. I heard he’s not even sparring. We’ll see what he’s made out of. Adversity is here. He’s over there smiling and still trying to uphold this fake image.”
I’d be smiling too if was cruising around town in my convertible with the UFC GOAT.
Then again, there was nothing to smile about when Sharaf resurrected this ugly incident from Steveson’s past.
“I don’t know who his PR person is,” Hokit continued. “Someone should have told him, ‘Hey, you need to be prepared to answer this [sexual assault] question.’ He had no answer for it. Was that the first time you thought about it? You didn’t think that was going to get brought up? I don’t know what they’re telling him. Maybe that’s even why he’s with Jon Jones in the first place.”
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Jones is teasing an MMA return now that Tom Aspinall has vacated the heavyweight title and Hokit is willing to break “Bones” despite their mutual affiliation with Jackson-Wink MMA in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
“He’s not in this gym, he’s not at this camp,” Hokit added. “I’ll fight whoever. I don’t discriminate. Whoever wants it could get it. I’m gonna be that type of champion too. They call my name out, they speak my name in vain, I’m stomping them where they stand. When I’m the champion, I’m giving them four fights a year.”
I swear I’ve heard that somewhere before…
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