Just a day after their confrontation at the fighters’ hotel, Alex Pereira has now suggested that Josh Hokit’s time in the promotion could be limited given his recent antics. Yesterday, as the former light heavyweight champion and his team made their way into the fighter hotel, Hokit, who was with his team in the lobby, launched a verbal tirade at Pereira, calling him a “p—y.” Despite this being the second time the heavyweight prospect has taken aim at the Brazilian, Pereira decided to walk away impassively.

Currently, both fighters are preparing to compete at the UFC White House event on June 14. As such, during the media day, reporters asked ‘Poatan’ about the incident the day before. It was then that he hinted that Hokit could be cut soon.  

“Honestly, I didn’t even want to talk about Hokit, but I’m going to make this very clear here,” Pereira said at UFC Freedom 250 media day. “I’m not criticizing him, you know? Just taking advantage of the opportunity. But I have already heard some things. Well, he’s going to the White House already; there’s nothing else he could do. He’s already on the card. There’s no way to take him off. He’s going to do that, but I don’t know what his future will be after this fight, whether he’ll be part of the organization or not.

“I’ve already heard some things, but I can’t talk about them. So I don’t need to think about him. Because I don’t even know whether he’s going to be around.”  

For now, it’s not clear who told Alex Pereira about Josh Hokit’s potential departure from the UFC. Also, no one from the UFC has stated anything along those lines. So, we still don’t know the reality behind-the-scenes. Given his recent hotel run-in with Pereira and his past altercation at the first UFC White House presser last month that prompted security to remove him from the stage, it won’t be a stretch to imagine the brass is not too happy with his recent antics.

However, it still wouldn’t be enough to justify him being cut from the promotion altogether given his rise as one of the most exciting heavyweight prospects in the UFC. The 28-year-old has also helped popularize the division that had been in a rut since Jon Jones’ exit last year. Even UFC fighters like Dustin Poirier have compared his trash-talking skills to Conor McGregor’s.

On the flip side, Dana White has described Hokit’s antics as “goofy,” but he has also credited the Californian for beating former top-five-ranked heavyweight Curtis Blaydes at UFC 327. On top of that, Hokit also has an existing 8-fight contract with the UFC.

Also, the promotion has historically avoided releasing fighters over verbal spats alone. Fighters like Conor McGregor and Colby Covington have said far worse things than Josh Hokit, yet their careers flourished under Dana White’s promotion.

However, there have been instances where the UFC has shown zero tolerance. Ahead of UFC 304 fight week, Muhammad Mokaev sucker-punched Manel Kape at the UFC fighter hotel. Despite his successful run in the promotion, Dana White promptly released Mokaev after the event. So yes, the UFC has the power to punish a fighter if a situation gets out of hand.

Now, it remains to be seen what happens in Hokit’s case. However, the UFC heavyweight, for his part, has responded to Alex Pereira’s revelation. 

Josh Hokit fires back at Alex Pereira while calling him an “idiot”

Soon after Pereira’s press conference ended, Josh Hokit took to X to let him know that producing one of the greatest heavyweight fights has made it almost impossible for the promotion to cut him.

“I gave the UFC the greatest fight of all time so why would they cut me you idiot lol,” Hokit wrote on X.

Here, the Californian MMA fighter was referring to his three-round barnburner with Curtis Blaydes at UFC 327. Both fighters produced a classic back-and-forth battle at the Kaseya Center that earned Fight of the Night honors. Hokit also ended up receiving a Performance bonus, bringing his total bonus earnings to $200K. Based on his performance, the UFC also made a quick decision to put him against Derrick Lewis at the UFC White House card.

After that groundbreaking performance, combined with his ability to draw attention, it seems the promotion most likely won’t cut Josh Hokit from the roster just yet. That is, unless he does something wild that leaves the UFC with no other choice but to cut him.