Josh Hokit and Derrick Lewis meet at UFC Freedom 250 on Sunday at the White House in Washington DC. Check out this quick breakdown of the matchup from MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom.
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Last event’s results: 2-3
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UFC main cards, 2026: 55-33-1
Josh Hokit vs. Derrick Lewis UFC Freedom 250 preview
Hokit (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) is coming off an incredible Fight of the Night war against Curtis Blaydes at UFC 327, which he won by unanimous decision. Hokit has earned bonuses in all three of his UFC bouts.
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Lewis (29-13 MMA, 20-11 UFC), the UFC’s knockout leader, will look to rebound from a second-round loss to Waldo Cortes-Acosta at UFC 324 in January. Prior to that, Lewis won back-to-back fights by finishing both Rodrigo Nascimento and Tallison Teixeira.
Josh Hokit vs. Derrick Lewis UFC Freedom 250 expert pick, prediction
Serving as heavyweight fan fodder for Donald Trump’s birthday party is the president’s favorite fighter, Derrick Lewis, who takes on the fast-rising Josh Hokit.
Despite my official pick, I can’t help but feel like this could be a classic trap fight.
Not only does Lewis heavily outweigh Hokit in experience, but “The Incredible Hok” is having to make a very quick turnaround coming off a crazy war with Curtis Blaydes (that Hokit himself admits he didn’t walk away fully healthy from).
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Nevertheless, Hokit still appears to be in fine fettle as far as how he’s moving ahead of this fight. And if Hokit can move like the undeniable athlete that he is, then this could be a really rough night for Lewis.
Although Lewis has traditionally done surprisingly well opposite wrestlers and submission grapplers alike during his UFC tenure, “The Black Beast” has been steadily regressing as far as his trends for both comebacks and anti-grappling alike.
For that reason, I’ll officially side with Hokit to put on a Cain Velasquez-esque performance by way of heavy wrestling and ground and pound to force the stoppage early into Round 2.
Josh Hokit vs. Derrick Lewis UFC Freedom 250 odds
The oddsmakers and the public strongly favor the younger fighter, listing Hokit -420 and Lewis +310 via FanDuel.
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Josh Hokit vs. Derrick Lewis UFC Freedom 250 start time, how to watch
Hokit and Lewis are expected to walk to the cage at approximately 9:40 p.m. ET. The fight streams live on Paramount+.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Freedom 250: Josh Hokit vs. Derrick Lewis prediction, pick, time
