Adesanya warns Hokit his White House speech put 'a red dot on his own head'

Israel Adesanya has cautioned rising UFC heavyweight Josh Hokit that his unfiltered post-fight speech at the UFC White House event could bring him more trouble than any opponent in the octagon, after Hokit made an offensive remark about former First Lady Michelle Obama following his win over Derrick Lewis last Sunday.

Speaking on Demetrious Johnson’s MightyCast, the former middleweight champion delivered a blunt assessment of Hokit’s microphone work. “His post-fight speech was crazy, like, at the White House,” Adesanya said. “I was like, man, this guy, he’s trying to put a red dot on his own head. The last person that said that ended up dead was Joan Rivers. Anyway, I don’t want to go too deep into that. … Freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom of consequences, but I think he can handle the consequences.”

Adesanya’s warning came alongside genuine admiration for what Hokit produced inside the cage. The undefeated heavyweight has gone 4-0 since making his UFC debut in 2025, with victories over perennial contenders Lewis and Curtis Blaydes propelling him up the rankings. His combination of fighting skill and an outlandish, shape-shifting persona has made him one of the most talked-about figures on any fight week.

Against Lewis, Adesanya believes Hokit was deliberately prolonging the entertainment rather than finishing when he had the chance. “He sold it, I knew it,” Adesanya said. “From the beginning, I was like, ‘He can finish this,’ and he starts screaming, like, the last four seconds, I was like, ‘OK, he wants this to go to the second round.’ … I knew he was playing, because it was fully extended. You know how to finish an armbar, even I know how to finish an armbar, but he just kept it, and the scream kind of sold it for me. This guy, he’s just a fugazi.”

Despite the theatrics, Adesanya was clear that Hokit’s ability is no act. “That fight, he came in just hot. He came in, flipped him off at the staredown and he’s a guy that regardless of the schtick or the character, the guy can fight.”

The Lewis bout came about after President Donald Trump reportedly asked UFC CEO Dana White to find Hokit an opponent so Lewis — one of Trump’s favoured fighters — could compete at the White House event. What comes next for Hokit remains uncertain. He has been pushing for a fight with former two-division champion Alex Pereira, though Pereira has largely dismissed the idea. Pereira’s heavyweight ambitions were dealt a blow on the same card when Ciryl Gane knocked him out in their interim heavyweight championship bout.