Josh Hokit has been in the UFC for about a year, and he’s already spending like a man who expects to stay. MMA Sucka reported Friday that the heavyweight bought a Lamborghini and a seven-figure house after his first year with the promotion. The report landed on the eve of the biggest fight of his life.
The timing is what makes it land. On Saturday, Nov. 14, Hokit faces Ciryl Gane in the main event of UFC 334, a card billed as Gane vs. Hokit. He walks in at 10-0, ranked No. 10 at heavyweight in Knockout Daily’s rankings and No. 5 in Meta’s UFC heavyweight rankings as of Oct. 24. His last fight was June 14. He turned 29 on Thursday.
None of this came easily. Hokit grew up in Wasco and Clovis, California, walked on at Fresno State and played both football and wrestling there. He was the wrestling program’s first All-American since Mario Botelho in 2003, and in football he finished his college career with 1,260 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns. The San Francisco 49ers signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2020, and he spent time on and off their practice squad before a five-day stint with the Arizona Cardinals in 2022. Bellator signed him in March 2023. He debuted that October with an arm-triangle finish of Spencer Smith at Bellator 300, then armbarred Sean Rose in 2024 before three wins under the Legacy Fighting Alliance banner.
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The fight week has been loud. At the UFC 334 press conference on Thursday, Hokit drew a big reaction with a crude line contrasting his side of the table with Gane’s, and Championship Rounds noted on X that Amanda Nunes loved it. At Friday’s weigh-in, Championship Rounds posted that he once again showed up acting like he was drunk and lay motionless on the scale for over a minute. Fellow UFC fighter Tommy McMillen reacted to the bit, saying “Bro tryna hit my move.”
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The bit plays because the record is clean. A guy who made practice squads on effort and then won all 10 of his pro fights has earned a nice car. Gane is a different problem than anyone Hokit has seen, though, and Saturday will decide whether the house gets paid off with a heavyweight title shot in view or turns into a story about spending ahead of the results.
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