Josh Hokit has a heavyweight title shot at Madison Square Garden next month, and that apparently still doesn’t get you on Jake Paul’s call-out sheet. Paul recently posted a 15-fight hit list on social media. Hokit scanned it, found his name missing and went straight to X to fill the gap himself.
“@jakepaul, @ciryl_gane, @AlexPereiraUFC, boxing or MMA, none want the Incredible Hok smoke,” Hokit wrote. “I destroy Jake, easy. I’m Jake’s size and age, so he would never fight me.”
He wasn’t finished. Hokit took a swipe at the way Paul’s last fight went, then turned his attention to the two men he says have been avoiding him all year. “AJ’s size was his built-in excuse,” he wrote. “Ciryl and Alex were praying not to fight me. Ciryl was forced to. Pussies.”
Bloody Elbow first reported Hokit’s reaction.
What’s on Paul’s list
Paul’s roadmap crosses both sports. On the boxing side he lists Tom Aspinall and Francis Ngannou. On the MMA side he lists Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz. He also still has a boxing world title on his goals list. That’s a bold ambition from a guy whose last night in the ring ended with his jaw broken.
That was last December, when Anthony Joshua handed the 29-year-old Cleveland native the first knockout loss of his career. Paul hasn’t competed since. He’s said he’s plotting a comeback, but he has yet to announce a date, a venue or an opponent.
Hokit’s year
Hokit, meanwhile, has been the hottest name at heavyweight in 2026. He’s won three fights this year, and the loudest of them came in June when he knocked out Derrick Lewis at the White House. That run earned him his first UFC title shot. He challenges Ciryl Gane at UFC 334 inside Madison Square Garden on November 14. Whether Gane was really praying to dodge him, as Hokit claims, is anybody’s guess. He’s getting the fight either way.
Quick take
I love this, and I love it because Hokit is trolling with a real point buried in the joke. His pitch is simple: he’s Paul’s size, he’s Paul’s age, so there’s no built-in excuse if Paul loses, and that’s exactly why Paul will never call him. Paul’s list is full of famous names where a loss comes with a giant payday attached. A same-size contender with a White House knockout on his résumé offers Paul all the risk and none of the cover. That said, Hokit has a much bigger problem than Jake Paul’s Instagram. If he wants this trash talk to age well, he needs to beat Gane at the Garden on November 14. Win the belt and Paul’s list gets a lot harder to keep short.
