Josh Hokit sees Alex Pereira as his ticket to UFC stardom.
Hokit (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) has already made waves in a short amount of time with both his persona and performances. Outlasting Curtis Blaydes at UFC 327 put him on the map, and he was immediately booked to face former title challenger Derrick Lewis at UFC Freedom 250 on June 14 from the White House.
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Also competing at UFC Freedom 250 is Pereira (13-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC), who meets Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title in the co-main event. Hokit already went at Pereira during the pre-fight press conference, which got him escorted out.
“Alex Pereira, I want to ‘chama’ on Alex Pereira’s mama,” Hokit told MMA Junkie Radio. “‘Oh my God, he said mama. He said he’s gonna chama on his mama.’ What does chama mean? What if Alex was just playing all of us and chama means ‘f*ck you’ or something this whole time? Imagine that? Man, what a legend.”
Hokit thinks former two-division UFC champion Pereira’s rise was a product of timing.
“I want Pereira. He’s a legend in the sport, or at least that’s what everyone is saying,” Hokit said. “And I just think he came into the sport at a right time with a bunch of strikers. I don’t take away the whole rivalry with (Israel) Adesanya – that was great.
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“But everybody else, it was all favorable matchups, all strikers. But at least he was able to perform a certain way and get all his opponents out of there, and his fights are pretty fun to watch. So I would also like to use his name to catapult my name. I think he’s never faced a guy like me.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Josh Hokit wants Pereira’s name to catapult his after UFC Freedom 250
