Ilia Topuria Vows to Beat Up Heavyweight Josh Hokit After Near Brawl Incident at UFC Freedom 250 Presser

Ilia Topuria reveals what would have happened to Josh Hokit during the Newark presser had security not intervened during their dispute.

Ilia Topuria Vows to Beat Up Heavyweight Josh Hokit After Near Brawl Incident at UFC Freedom 250 Presser

Ilia Topuria addresses Josh Hokit feud [via X and MMA Fighting]

In Short
  • Ilia Topuria expressed a desire to confront heavyweight Josh Hokit after a heated exchange at the UFC Freedom 250 press conference.
  • The altercation escalated when Hokit insulted interim heavyweight title challenger Alex Pereira, prompting Topuria's reaction.
  • UFC CEO Dana White criticized the fighters' behavior, emphasizing the need to avoid unnecessary conflicts that could jeopardize upcoming events.

Despite the massive disparity in weight and size, UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria wants to beat up heavyweight Josh Hokit. The undefeated heavyweight is embroiled in feuds with several UFC stars across weight divisions. Recently, at the press conference in Newark for the UFC Freedom 250, Hokit got under Topuria’s skin with his signature trash talk.

At the presser, Josh Hokit went after interim heavyweight title challenger Alex Pereira. The American heavyweight said a lot of things about Pereira before insulting Poatan’s mother. While Pereira himself didn’t catch the insult because the translator didn’t tell him what Hokit said, his fellow double champion Ilia Topuria was instantly riled up.

‘El Matador’ and Hokit traded words with Topuria, reprimanding the heavyweight who kept hurling insults at the Spaniard. Eventually, Hokit was escorted off the stage by security after Ilia Topuria threw a bottle at him. But now, Topuria has revealed how things would have gone down without the security personnel’s intervention.

I’ve been at many press conferences, I’ve seen everything. But I’ve never seen anyone stand up and talk about someone’s mother in such a disrespectful way…Lucky he had so many security people there because come on. One of the two was going to come out worse off, and it wasn’t going to be me.

Ilia Topuria via KOLmenero MMA

Whether it’s the Spaniard snatching Alexander Volkanovski‘s belt or having a verbal altercation with Paddy Pimblett, Topuria’s press conferences are always quite eventful. However, even by those standards, the recent altercation involving himself, Hokit, and Pereira was incredibly volatile.

Ilia Topuria isn’t the first fighter from a lower weight class to be feuding with Josh Hokit. Following UFC 327, Hokit and Paulo Costa traded barbs over a fight bonus dispute. After recently getting his first win at light heavyweight, ‘The Eraser’ took to X to call out the ‘Incredible Hok’ to a fight at heavyweight.

However, someone who hasn’t been impressed by all these cross-divisional callouts is Dana White. The UFC CEO recently opened up about the altercation in Newark.

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Dana White goes off on Ilia Topuria and Josh Hokit’s altercation

Before Ilia Topuria’s recent comments, Dana White addressed the heated exchange between Ilia Topuria and Josh Hokit. The UFC CEO had to end the Newark presser prematurely after a tense moment involving main card fighters of UFC Freedom 250.

Josh Hokit angers Ilia Topuria and Alex Pereira at the UFC Freedom 250 presser
Josh Hokit angers Ilia Topuria and Alex Pereira at the UFC Freedom 250 presser [via Bloody Elbow]

With the UFC Freedom 250 card approaching, White revealed at the UFC 328 post-fight press conference that he wants fighters not to do anything that could jeopardize the upcoming event.

Moreover, the UFC boss expressed his annoyance at fighters feuding when a fight between them isn’t viable. However, he addressed the altercation itself between Pereira, Topuria, and Hokit with surprise at the extreme reaction from Ilia Topuria.

I don’t want any of these guys getting hurt…that means nothing with guys that are never going to fight each other… Ilia and Alex are pretty chill guys, normally, Ilia flips out every now and then. We didn’t see that coming. They’re all sitting next to each other in the same row. [Sean] O’Malley scoots back and I’m just like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me right now.’

Dana White via the UFC 328 press conference

White confessed that the whole time, he was actually more worried about a potential violent confrontation between Sean Strickland and Khamzat Chimaev. The UFC 328 weigh-in was scheduled to take place after the UFC Freedom 250 presser. However, nothing much happened at the weigh-ins other than Sean Strickland accusing Khamzat Chimaev of missing weight.

White expressed that while he appreciated Josh Hokit’s fighting ability, he was not a fan of the heavyweight’s antics during press conferences. Nonetheless, both Hokit and Topuria will be present at the White House card, with ‘El Matador’ headlining the event against Justin Gaethje and Hokit taking on Derrick Lewis.

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