Paulo Costa may be feuding with Josh Hokit, but he is going after Derrick Lewis’ spot on the UFC Freedom 250 card. Tensions between Costa and Hokit began after UFC 327, where the Brazilian secured a third-round knockout win over Azamat Murzakanov, and Hokit defeated Curtis Blaydes via unanimous decision. Despite their wins, the problem was their bonus payouts.

Hokit secured both ‘Fight of the Night’ and ‘Performance of the Night,’ totaling $200,000. Meanwhile, Paulo Costa was stuck with just a $25K knockout bonus. To make matters worse, thanks to Donald Trump and Joe Rogan, Hokit managed to secure a spot on the White House card against Derrick Lewis. This appears to have ticked off Costa, who felt he deserved one of the post-fight bonuses instead of Hokit. 

Since then, the pair have been beefing on social media, exchanging barbs over the additional $100k bonus. At one point, Hokit even shared a screenshot of a text message from Costa, where Costa was asking for $100,000 back. While Josh Hokit doesn’t appear to be in the mood to oblige with Costa’s demands, the latter has since challenged the American former footballer to a fight in the heavyweight division, replacing Lewis on the Freedom 250 card. 

“Right now, I think practically all the fans would like to see how I, who was perhaps the biggest middleweight in history, would fare against Hokit in the Heavyweight division without cutting any weight at the White House,” Costa wrote on X. “Wouldn’t be surprised if I came in heavier than him. If Trump still wants Derrick there, book him with somebody else… Plus, I get my 100k back.”

Costa may be leaning on the buzz from his post-fight interaction with Donald Trump following his win over Azamat Murzakanov at UFC 327. After the victory, Costa jumped the fence to speak with Trump, who claimed that he was too good-looking to be fighting in the UFC. While it’s unlikely the promotion will entertain Costa’s demands, his recent comments suggest he may be stirring up a feud with Hokit to push himself back into the spotlight.

Meanwhile, the Freedom 250 card is scheduled for June 14 on the White House lawn, with a fight between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje headlining the event. In the meantime, Hokit vs. Lewis is now expected to appear in the fourth fight of the night, per new graphics of the card shared on social media by ‘UFC on Paramount+.’ It’s also worth noting that a fight had fallen apart before the card was announced. 

In any case, Hokit may soon receive some good news, and safe to say Paulo Costa might not like it. 

RAF is interested in working with Josh Hokit amid Paulo Costa beef

Real American Freestyle (RAF) Wrestling continues to aggressively pursue rising UFC talent. And Josh Hokit has emerged as a key target. Promotion owner Izzy Martinez confirmed that discussions around Hokit have been ongoing, largely due to shared management connections with his training environment.

“You know, Josh Hokit’s manager is the same manager for Zahid Valencia, so we’ve been talking to him about Hokit for a while,” Martinez said. 

He also pointed to Hokit’s ties to Greg Jackson’s gym, where Martinez previously spent years coaching. While acknowledging that the UFC may already have significant plans for the heavyweight, Martinez made it clear that RAF is equally ambitious. 

“You know, I think they’ve got a big plan for him in the UFC, but we also have big plans for him. So we’re super excited to get on the horn with him after this weekend, and he’s not the only one, but Hokit is a special one, and we’re excited to get him in the league also.”

It appears that while Paulo Costa struggles to become relevant once again, Josh Hokit, the rising talent, has become the center of attention. Do you think Hokit should pay Costa $100K? Do you think Lewis should be replaced by Costa?