Josh Hokit announced that his coach Greg Jackson will not be present for his fight against Derrick Lewis at the UFC White House event on June 14 due to personal reasons. Coach Mike Winkeljohn confirmed that Jackson's absence is due to family issues.
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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JANUARY 24: Josh Hokit and his team pose for a portrait after his victory during the UFC 324 event at T-Mobile Arena on January 24, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC)
Josh Hokitâs corner will have a different look the next time he steps into the octagon.
Following his breakthrough win over veteran heavyweight contender Curtis Blaydes at UFC 327, and a subsequent booking against Derrick Lewis for the UFC White House event on June 14, Hokit broke the news that his coach Greg Jackson will not be with him at the historic show:
At the time, Hokit wrote only that Jackson is unavailable for âpersonal reasons.â One of Hokitâs other coaches, longtime Jackson Wink MMA Academy partner Mike Winkeljohn confirmed the news in an interview with Submission Radio, explaining Jackson will be absent due to âfamily issues.â
âGregâs got a few things going on, so correct, Greg wonât be there,â Winkeljohn said. âNo need to talk about it, all I know is I have two guys at the White House and itâs time to go for a fight. Thatâs what itâs all about, how cool this is going to be.â
Hokit vaulted into the rankings with his win over Blaydes, putting a number next to his name in just his third UFC fight, his ninth pro bout overall. The former NFL hopeful is undefeated so far and his back-and-forth battle with Blaydes has him earning early Fight of the Year talk, not to mention his outside-of-the-cage antics that went viral on social media during UFC 327 fight week.
Now he faces another veteran test in Lewis, and even though Jackson wonât be in his corner on June 14, his fingerprints will be all over Team Hokitâs strategy.
âEveryday weâre already game planning what to do with him,â Winkeljohn said. âEverything is straight that way. Weâve already got a good plan of what Derrick does and Gregâs kind of broken down a lot of things. Thatâs what Greg is such a genius at, he can break down in a strategic manner an overall thing and we start fine-tuning these techniques that we need to work on and sometimes theyâre just small things that can make a big difference in a fight.â
Greg Jackson is unavailable for the fight due to personal reasons, specifically family issues.
Josh Hokit is scheduled to fight Derrick Lewis on June 14 at the UFC White House event.
Mike Winkeljohn, a partner at Jackson Wink MMA Academy, confirmed Greg Jackson's absence.
Josh Hokit achieved a breakthrough victory over veteran heavyweight contender Curtis Blaydes at UFC 327.
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Figuring things out on the fly could be a running theme for Hokit, who had no idea heâd be fighting at the White House as he prepared for his UFC 327 clash with Curtis. However, President Donald Trump was cageside at Kaseya Center in Miami and he let UFC CEO Dana White know heâd like to have Lewis fight at the White House.
With Hokit emerging as the star of the night, White had no choice but to do a rare immediate booking of a fighter who hadnât even had a chance to wipe the blood and sweat off before receiving his next assignment.
âItâs pretty wild. Donald Trump, he wanted Derrick Lewis, he wanted that guy,â Winkeljohn said. âI think he understands that Derrick always brings that excitement, that big punching power, which is scary. Everybody wants to see Josh Hokit. Either you like Josh, you want to see whether he can perform, or now you donât like him because of his antics and youâre hoping Derrick Lewis hits him and Josh stands still for that. So with that being said, that would not be our plan is to stand there and get hit by Derrick Lewis because that man can hit hard, no doubt about it.
âIt was pretty exciting. After the fight I kind of pointed over at Dana and Mr. Trump and I basically just pointed at Josh and I said, âHey, this is the guy. This is the guy.â It was kind of neat to see that whole thing unfold. I had no idea until it happened that Dana would have thought, âHey, you know what? Josh is the guy to fight Derrick Lewis.â So it was pretty cool.â
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Letâs be honest, UFC Vegas 116 wonât knock your socks off, but there are some fun fights and the main event is great. If youâve got nothing else going on Saturday, definitely tune in. If you have other plans, just check in here with us and weâll let you know what you missed that matters.
Have a great weekend, and see yâall on Monday. â Meshew
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