Unbeaten Hokit demands BMF bout with Pereira after Gane knockout dents 'Poatan' star power

Josh Hokit (10-0) has called for a BMF title match against Alex Pereira, insisting the former two-division champion must first rebuild his reputation after Ciryl Gane knocked him out in the second round of their interim heavyweight title fight at UFC Freedom 250 this past June.

The callout follows comments from Pereira’s coach and mentor Glover Teixeira, who suggested “Poatan” should face Hokit next to regain momentum. Hokit, unbeaten across ten professional bouts and four UFC appearances since debuting last year, was not inclined to simply accept the matchup on those terms.

“Can we let Alex get a little bit of his aura back first?” Hokit wrote on X. “I was teeing him up to be my Jose Aldo-Conor [McGregor] moment and he went out and became Ciryl Gane’s easiest win in 5 years. But since @ufc was about to make Alex the GOAT if he won, if he & I are next it should be for the BMF.”

Hokit pointed to UFC CEO Dana White’s pre-fight declaration that Pereira would be considered the greatest UFC fighter of all time had he defeated Gane at the White House event. With that narrative now collapsed, “The Incredible Hok” argues the stakes of any future meeting need to be raised accordingly.

Pereira (13-4) had been one of the UFC’s most compelling figures heading into the heavyweight move. He captured the middleweight title against Israel Adesanya in 2022 before losing it in their rematch the following year. He then won the light heavyweight title in 2023, defended it three times within twelve months, lost it to Magomed Ankalaev, and dramatically reclaimed it by knocking Ankalaev out in 80 seconds in their rematch — all before vacating to pursue history at heavyweight.

The loss to Gane ended that bid and, in Hokit’s view, fundamentally altered the commercial logic of a potential matchup. Whether the UFC moves to book the fight — with or without the BMF belt attached — remains to be seen, but Hokit’s willingness to engage publicly with Teixeira’s suggestion keeps the possibility firmly in the conversation.