Jon Anik reveals what Josh Hokit did to make him laugh out loud during ‘fruitless’ UFC 327 fighter meeting

MIAMI, FLORIDA - APRIL 11: Josh Hokit reacts after a victory against Curtis Blaydes in a heavyweight fight during the UFC 327 event at Kaseya Center on April 11, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Ed Mulholland/Zuffa LLC)

Jon Anik is fascinated by Josh Hokit, especially after what he accomplished at UFC 327.

Hokit stole the show in Miami with an incredibly gritty, all-time battle against Curtis Blaydes, winning a unanimous decision and throwing himself into the top-10 rankings in just his third UFC fight. The Fight of the Year contender helped earn Hokit two post-event bonuses, an extra $200,000, and a fight on the UFC White House card on June 14 for his efforts.

Ahead of the fight, Hokit leaned into his bizarre character, and was getting go-away heat from the vast majority of the MMA community — even Dana White wasn’t a fan of his antics. But after Hokit’s outing, Anik recounts the UFC 327 fight week experience with “The Incredible Hok.”

“Well hopefully a lot of people have gone back and watched the lead horse Mark Hunt and Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva, December 2023 in Brisbane, Australia, because this is the fight that people are comparing this to just in terms of its heavyweight greatness all time in the UFC,” Anik told MMA Fighting. “So Henry Cejudo, for all of his cringe and for as much adoration as I have for him, he never made me laugh out loud. And even though Josh Hokit is cringy at times, and our fighter meeting was completely fruitless. This dude makes me laugh out loud, right?

“Even though I’m sort of put off by some of the antics, he got me in the fighter meeting to laugh out loud, and at the official weigh-in, got me again, So I do think there’s some merit to what he’s doing, maybe more than some of his contemporaries that have tried with a shtick like this. But bro, You just can’t even make it up, and that’s why I think mixed martial arts is the greatest sport in the world and why it truly is the most unpredictable theater in live sport, because President [Donald] Trump has always wanted Derrick Lewis on the card, and Joe Rogan’s been talking about a 7th fight and Rogan starts pining for Hokit to find his way on the card, and the next thing you know, everything comes together and they booked the fight. Bro, I mean, like of all of Josh Hokit’s dreams, right?

“Like if you would have said to him on Friday, ‘Hey man, you can manifest this, you can get a double bonus, greatest heavyweight fight of all time in the UFC, and they’re going to book you on the already filled up White House card on June 14th.’ Yeah, man, walking the walk doesn’t even begin to describe it. So congrats to Josh Hokit.”