Heavyweight action has been added to UFC 324, which ushers in the UFC’s Paramount+ era next January.
Josh Hokit (7-0) versus Denzel Freeman (7-1) joins a card headlined by Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett, set for January 24, 2026 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
News of the booking was first reported by MMA Junkie. Hotkit later confirmed the match-up, adding his usual, brash promotional style to the mix.
“So boring indeed, but every other guy turned me down and I wanted to be on UFC 324 so here we are, they forced him to sign the contract or else they woulda cut him like his last opponent… I’m helping the UFC out on this one, your (sic) welcome UFC,” Hokit wrote on social media in response to a fan’s complaint that the promotion had matched him with a “boring bum heavyweight.”
Hotkit, who fought his way into the UFC on Dana White’s Contender Series earlier this year, won his promotional debut last month by knocking out BJJ expert Max Gimenis inside of a minute.
Prior to his fighting career, Hokit played professional football, briefly signing with the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals. He was an All-American wrestler in college, at Fresno State.
Freeman also joined the UFC in 2025, when the former LFA heavyweight champ defeated Marek Bujło by decision in his own octagon debut.
January’s UFC 324 features the following reported match-ups thus far:
- Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett — for the interim UFC lightweight championship
- Kayla Harrison (c) vs. Amanda Nunes – for the UFC women’s bantamweight
- championship
- Sean O’Malley vs. Song Yadong
- Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Derrick Lewis
- Arnold Allen vs. Jean Silva
- Alexa Grasso vs. Rose Namajunas
- Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Deiveson Figueiredo
- Ateba Abega Gautier vs. Andrey Pulyaev
- Nikita Krylov vs. Modestas Bukauskas
- Alex Perez vs. Charles Johnson
- Josh Hokit vs. Denzel Freeman
