Du Plessis praises Hokit's UFC rise but warns White House remark 'is going to cost him'

UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis has declared himself a fan of Josh Hokit’s fighting, but warned the heavyweight prospect that his offensive post-fight remark at the UFC White House event will have consequences for his career.

Hokit, 28 and undefeated in 10 professional bouts, has become one of the most discussed fighters in the UFC this year — first for a Fight of the Year-candidate performance against Curtis Blaydes, then for a dominant second-round knockout of longtime contender Derrick Lewis. His post-fight speech at the White House event, however, drew widespread condemnation after he made a remark about former First Lady Michelle Obama that UFC CEO Dana White described as “nasty and false” and that analyst Daniel Cormier said showed Hokit needed to “get it together.”

Speaking to Fight Forecast, du Plessis was direct in his assessment. “I think right now he’s getting in his own way saying something stupid like that,” the South African champion said. “Freedom of speech one thing, but so irrelevant, and it’s not even something that people are talking about right now. Read the room. It’s not a topic of discussion. It’s such a random joke he tried to make that didn’t land at all. I think it was a mistake, but he’s new in the game and that’s how we learn.”

Du Plessis did not soften the likely fallout. “I think it’s going to cost him. That comment’s going to cost him. But that aside, I don’t really care about that. If it costs him, great, if it doesn’t, I don’t care.”

His admiration for Hokit’s in-cage ability, though, was unambiguous. Against Lewis, Hokit demonstrated that he is far more than the grappler many had labelled him after his earlier UFC wins. After taking Lewis down repeatedly in the first round, he switched gears in the second and stopped the veteran with calculated striking rather than wild power shots.

“Round 2, I’m thinking just take him down again, win this fight,” du Plessis said. “And he goes and just straight-up outstrikes him. Not just with wild punches, calculated punches. I was really impressed, the way he moved. His size is a problem there, but he’s not trying to overpower these guys. What he’s doing is using volume, footwork, his speed, and agility to beat these guys, because at heavyweight not a lot of guys have great wrestling. He does. So he always has that in his back pocket. Now, with that kind of striking, I’m a fan. I’m a fan of his fighting, 100 percent, he’s very exciting.”

Du Plessis, who is no stranger to controversy himself — his feud with Israel Adesanya ahead of UFC 305 generated significant heat — drew a clear line between calculated fight promotion and the kind of remark Hokit made, which he described as random, unfunny, and damaging without purpose.