UFC heavyweight fighter Josh Hokit made waves at the UFC Freedom 250 event by invoking the old conspiracy theory that former First Lady Michelle Obama is a man. Despite the backlash, he's not apologizing. He's doubling down.
In an interview with Ariel Helwani, Hokit declared that he will never backtrack or back down from anything he says. He insisted that he was expressing his freedom of speech and that he was just trying to get a rise out of certain people.
“You’ll never hear me backtrack from what I say," Hokit said.
"I thought it was a perfect opportunity to show the world how great this country is with the freedom of speech. You go somewhere and you say something like that and you die. And I'm not suicidal, by the way. I'm in good spirits. I'm a little under the weather right now, but other than that, I'm good.
“And so in other parts of the world, you say something like that and you're not here to speak to Ariel Helwani. Yeah, I don't know. There's a few answers to that and there's a certain side that pokes at another side and there's no outrage there. And so I thought it was a perfect time to take a jab.’’
Hokit then insisted he was paying the former First Lady a compliment by calling her a man.
“She knows how to work hard like a man when the times get tough," he added.
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Who's laughing?
Other than the usual suspects in the media and on social media, Hokit's joke didn't even go over all that well with the two most important people at the UFC Freedom 250: President Donald Trump and UFC President Dana White.
President Trump appeared unamused by Hokit's joke despite his known disdain for the Obamas and his fondness for insulting his political enemies.
As for White, he didn't seem especially amused or bothered by the remark either. After the event he simply dismissed Hokit's comment as something stupid that he's allowed to say because of free speech.
"Not everyone does, and you have to listen to stupid (expletive) like that sometimes, unfortunately, because I also believe in free speech," White said.
© Amber Searls-Imagn Images.
Hokit is a rising star in MMA. He's already fought five times in the last year and eight times since January 2025, winning all but one of his fights by a knockout or submission. His win at the UFC Freedom 250 over longtime star Derrick Lewis has propelled him into the top-five in the UFC heavyweight rankings.
He isn't just talking his way into the national spotlight, he's rapidly showing that he's a bonafide contender for the heavyweight belt.
