President Donald Trump hosted one of the most historic UFC cards ever at Freedom 250 on the White House South Lawn. While the night didn’t go as planned for Alex Pereira or two-weight champion Ilia Topuria, Team America came out on top. With Jon Jones effectively out of the UFC, America’s new heavyweight favorite is former Division 1 running back Josh “The Incredible Hok” Hokit. College football fans still remember him as a grit-filled standout from Fresno State.

Long before he was trading heavy strikes in the Octagon in the heavyweight division, Hokit was an old-school RB who arrived at college as an unheralded walk-on, meaning he had no athletic scholarship whatsoever and had to earn every single bit of respect. Apparently, the No. 5-ranked heavyweight turned down a guaranteed full-ride scholarship to wrestle at Drexel University simply because the school didn’t have a football program. (Sigh*) Things folks do for the love of the game.

During his incredible four-year football career at Fresno State from 2016 to 2019, Josh Hokit became head coach Jeff Tedford’s favorite soldier on that Bulldogs roster. He did a little bit of everything, such as playing linebacker, fullback, special teams, and running back, besides fullback.

So, whenever their team’s starting running backs got hurt, Hokit became the definitive go-to weapon for Jeff. In his career over there, Hokit rushed for about 1,260 yards and 17 rushing touchdowns. He also threw two touchdown passes on trick plays and caught 38 passes for 260 yards. His standout year came in 2017 when the Fresno State Bulldogs went 10-0 and finished their season with a Hawaii Bowl dub.

Unlike most players, there was no such thing as an off-season for Hokit. Right when the college football season ended in December, Hokit would shed about 20 to 30 pounds and join the Fresno State wrestling team. He competed in the heavyweight and 197-pound weight classes and finished his wrestling career with a 60-20 record. His best season came in 2019 when he earned All-American honors by placing fifth at the NCAA Championships.

After college, he was not selected in the 2020 NFL Draft but signed with the San Francisco 49ers as a free agent. He then spent two seasons on the team’s practice squad as a fullback. He later spent time with the Arizona Cardinals during their 2022 training camp. Although he never got to suit up for a regular-season NFL game, Hokit decided to take a leap of faith and made his way to Dana White’s Contender Series.

After bagging a couple of wins there, and a win over former heavyweight title contender Curtis Blaydes, UFC boss Dana White was quite in awe of his America-first persona and brought him in to fight at UFC Freedom 250 against the knockout king and crowd favorite, Derrick Lewis.

Despite being a heel (villain), it didn’t take longer than a minute for Hokit to make the crowd cheer for him. The former Fresno State RB decimated Lewis via second-round TKO, managing to land almost every right hand he threw while manhandling him with his wrestling throughout the first round. That KO earned him a guaranteed $25,000.

According to ESPN Fighting Analytics, Hokit managed to land 86 significant strikes out of 117 attempts, which is around 74% of his shots thrown. There wasn’t a single mark on Hokit’s body as he ended his night absorbing just seven significant strikes.

Although UFC hasn’t released official fighter payouts yet, it has been reported that new lightweight champion Justin Gaethje won both Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night for his win against Topuria, which comes with around $400k and $425k, respectively, in bonuses, excluding his fight purse. Former UFC heavyweight Daniel Cormier revealed that Alex Pereira is getting paid $10 million for his fight.

Considering that, and as a top-five heavyweight in the world, Hokit is easily making somewhere in the vicinity of $350,000-$400,000. It wouldn’t be surprising if he ends up making a ton more than that. After all, President Trump and Dana White seemed to love every second of it.

Not to mention, since it’s probably a once-in-a-lifetime event, the promotional team distributed a massive $1 million cryptocurrency bonus pool exclusively among fighters who scored finishes. Since all seven fights ended via knockout or submission, Josh is going to take home a $142,000 check. Not a bad night’s work, if you’re wondering, especially for a newcomer. Hokit ended his evening celebrating with Donald Trump and had a few things to say while at it.

Now, Hokit’s 10-0 in the UFC and still has a long way to go. Knowing how slow the heavyweight division is, it’s safe to say he’s just two, or at most three, wins away from fighting for UFC gold and becoming the first D1 and Fresno State Bulldogs football player to become the heavyweight champion of the world. His former head coach is shocked by what he has become.

Josh Hokit is not the villain, according to his former coaches

Even though Josh Hokit has already managed to build a reputation as a villain in the UFC through various bizarre acts and stunts, former running backs coach Jamie Christian had quite the opposite to say.

“When it’s all said and done, he’s a good young man. I know his heart.” He doubled down and said, “He was everything you want in a football player.”

Even though head coach Tedford knew Hokit was a beast on the field and an elite college wrestler, he admits he never actually saw the whole UFC superstar thing coming. Like many people, he’s surprised by the loud, trash-talking character Hokit shows during UFC events.

The coach said Hokit acts very differently during fight week than he does in real life. He explained that behind all the promotion and trash talk, Hokit is actually very smart, was a great student, and is a genuinely good person who knows how to entertain fans.

Tedford is proud of how far his former player has come since his days at Fresno State: “Go after your dreams, man. Go get it. I know you can do it.”