Dana White admits he dislikes everything Hokit says ahead of UFC 334 heavyweight title shot

Dana White has offered a blunt assessment of Josh Hokit ahead of the unbeaten heavyweight’s UFC championship challenge, telling reporters at the UFC 331 post-fight press conference that he dislikes “everything Josh Hokit says” and sees no prospect of that changing.

Hokit will face Ciryl Gane for the UFC heavyweight title at UFC 334 on 14 November at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Gane was elevated to undisputed champion following Tom Aspinall’s relinquishment of the belt, and Hokit — nicknamed “The Incredible Hok” — will be the Frenchman’s first challenger in that role.

White’s friction with Hokit is not new. The UFC CEO has previously taken issue with the fighter’s behaviour before and during UFC Freedom 250 at the White House. Asked at the UFC 331 presser about the prospect of Hokit becoming champion, White was characteristically direct.

“I got a lot of thoughts on that,” White said. “Yeah, lots and lots. I’m sure they’re the same thoughts that you’re all having. I doubt we’re that different. Yeah.”

When pressed specifically on Hokit’s controversial promotional style, White stopped short of calling for any restrictions, reiterating his long-held position that the UFC does not police what fighters say.

“I don’t police what people say and any of that sh*t and if you keep winning…” White said. “I say it all the time, I don’t have to like you for you to thrive here and you do well and be successful. Many people that I do not like have done very well here. I’m not saying I don’t like Josh Hokit; I literally don’t like anything Josh Hokit says. And that’s not going to change unless he changes and I don’t see that happening.”

The comments underline an unusual dynamic heading into UFC 334. Hokit enters the fight unbeaten, and a victory at the Garden would hand the heavyweight title to a fighter his own promotion’s CEO has publicly distanced himself from. White’s remarks suggest that outcome would be tolerated rather than celebrated — a tension that adds a charged backdrop to what is already a marquee main event at one of sport’s most iconic venues.