Josh Hokit got what he wanted. He not only became the center of mainstream drama, but even days after his win over Derrick Lewis at the UFC Freedom 250 card, the media continues to talk about him. If you didn’t know, the heavyweight contender called former First Lady Michelle Obama a man during his post-fight interview, which quickly blew up.

And the fact that President Donald Trump, who has had questionable things to say about Barack Obama and his wife, backed the June 14 event, which took place on his 80th birthday, doesn’t look good for either him or the UFC. Now, during the UFC Vegas 119 post-fight press conference, UFC CEO Dana White, who has criticized Hokit once before for the comment, branded Hokit’s comment “disgusting” while revealing whether he regretted adding him to the card. 

“No, listen, there’s always going to be people [who] say things that most of us don’t agree with,” Dana White told the reporter. “I mean just the time, the place, the just f–king.”

The time and place proved perfect for what Hokit intended. As a newcomer to the UFC, the former San Francisco 49ers fullback wanted to stand out from the rest of the promotion’s roster. And that’s reflected in the bizarre persona Hokit has created to promote himself. That’s perhaps also why White agreed to add him to the card after Joe Rogan suggested it, following Donald Trump’s request to have Derrick Lewis included on the event. 

Since the comment, a plethora of political and non-political characters in the country have condemned Hokit, White, and Trump. Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports, who has previously supported Trump, condemned the remarks as “incredibly gross” and asked Trump to denounce the remarks. Meanwhile, former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III called the slur a “disgrace,” adding, “It takes a really small man to use his biggest moment to attack a woman by calling her a man.”

While Trump has yet to speak on the matter, the Obamas have also remained silent. Despite the silence from the Obamas, it wouldn’t have been too far-fetched for Dana White to fire Hokit from the promotion over his actions. However, the 58-year-old said his support for free speech prevented him from taking that step, while also revealing that he had previously supported Barack Obama during his presidential campaign. 

“I’ve said many times, I voted for Obama the first time. Didn’t vote for him the second time,” White added. “Then when I was at the inauguration, he was sitting in front of me, and then I saw all this stuff on the internet where people were like, ‘Oh, Dana’s mad dogging Obama…’ Obama’s the only one that turned around to me. Couldn’t have been a nicer guy and said, ‘Congratulations on all your success and everything that you’ve done, whatever.’ I said, ‘Thank you, Mr. President.’” 

White here is referring to an incident during Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration in January, 2025. A viral photo and video clip showed Dana White seated behind the former presidents, including Barack Obama, in the Capitol Rotunda. Many people online accused White of aggressively staring down Obama with a hostile look. But months later, White provided the same clarification during an interview with 60 Minutes.

“And I don’t believe in this s–t. Like all the people [who] hate Trump, he’s not my president. All the people [who] hate Biden, he’s not my president. I got some bad f–king news for you. If you’re an American, that’s your president. And I respect all presidents, present and past. Not everybody does. And got to listen to f–king stupid s–t like that sometimes, unfortunately, because I also believe in free speech.”

As White said, this is not the first time he has had to listen to something he didn’t agree with.

Fighters Dana White fired/refused to fire after controversy

White’s support for free speech has saved several fighters from getting booted from the promotion. For instance, Bryce Mitchell made some antisemitic, homophobic, and pro-Hitler comments on his podcast last year. While Dana White condemned the statement, adding it was one of the “dumbest” things anyone has said, he didn’t fire Mitchell from the promotion. 

Similarly, in 2013, Nate Diaz wrote a controversial tweet about former UFC star Bryan Caraway. While Diaz was suspended, he wasn’t fired from the promotion outright. Even UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland has made several controversial comments on air, but the UFC hasn’t taken any serious action against Strickland.

However, before the UFC Freedom 250 event, Strickland had criticized Donald Trump, Israel, and President Benjamin Netanyahu. He later revealed that he was banned by top UFC brass from attending the White House event because of it. However, White clarified that Strickland wasn’t banned. Rather, he wasn’t invited to the event. 

Strickland even crashed the event on June 14 and was escorted out of the venue. However, even then, Dana White has not outright fired him over the offense. That doesn’t mean everyone is safe, however. On December 8, 2011, Miguel Torres was fired by the UFC because of a highly insensitive comment he made on X. 

Former UFC star Paul Daley was also fired in May 2010 after he sucker punched his opponent after the final bell. Clearly, not every action is tolerated in the UFC. Luckily for Josh Hokit, the promotion was willing to tolerate his comment.