Bad Takes Abound in Mainstream Narratives
I take no pleasure on harping on the work of other journalists, and I don’t buy into the “mainstream media bad” mumbo jumbo spouted by conspiracy theorists and chronically online children. Yet having said that, it’s hard to ignore just how bad, and how biased, some of the coverage of UFC Freedom 250 at the White House was, primarily from non-MMA media sources.
The likes of Luke Thomas and Karim Zidan can give you excellent takes on the UFC flirting with the political realm, and the cronyism and favoritism on display by having the promotion host an event at the White House. Love Trump or hate him, you have to admit, he was doing a favor for a friend on this one, and he stood to profit from it. I’ve called UFC Freedom 250 sportswashing myself, but I’ll add that it was still an entertaining spectacle, and I’d have no issue if the next Democrat President chose to host an NBA game on the White House lawn.
Being frank, on the list of all the dubious, despicable, and downright corrupt things Donald J. Trump has ever done, having a UFC show at the White House ranks close to last if not dead last. It was a free show for military members and a fun night for sports fans. It honored some heroes. It entertained. I know there are slippery slope arguments here, but as someone who does his best to ignore politics and isn’t American anyway, I’d rather focus on more important matters.
Again, though, some of the coverage in non-MMA spaces was downright bad. Mother Jones, for one, decided to play the sexism card against the one sports body outside of professional tennis that has treated its female athletes like true stars for over a decade now (sorry, the WNBA getting a bit bigger doesn’t count; it still pales in comparison to its male counterpart).
The MJ piece opted to decry the lack of female fighters at UFC Freedom 250, quickly brushing past the fact that Mackenzie Dern vs. Weili Zhang was supposed to be part of the event, but fell through last minute. Instead, they dragged up Dana White’s old (paraphrasing here) women will never fight in the UFC line (and again, trying to quickly brush past the fact that he’s repeatedly admitted he was wrong). They also, likely through a genuine lack of MMA knowledge, ignore that fact that there were few viable options for a women’s fight on the card.
Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes would have made all the sense in the world, but Harrison is still recovering from neck surgery. Dern vs. Zhang fell through. Your only other women’s champ is Valentina Shevchenko, and her next title challenger is likely to be Natalia Silva. Two more non-Americans on a night designed to celebrate America’s birthday? You already had that in the co-main event between Ciryl Gane and Alex Pereira.
A non-title fight could have worked, if the UFC had a big enough, must-see female star at the moment. But outside of Zhang and Nunes, two non-Americans, they don’t.
Ronda Rousey is one of the top two stars in MMA history, alongside Conor McGregor. Women in the UFC get paid the same as the men: too little, but the same entry level salary, the same post-fight bonus money, the same ability to reach the top and make big money as Rousey and others have done. There’s probably still some work to be done on the marketability front, but the UFC was well ahead of other sports in giving female athletes equal footing. The reality is there are fewer females in the UFC because of the lack of weight classes; there aren’t enough athletic women to even have a lightweight division (the PFL tried it), let alone welterweight and up. Which means less of a pool to draw from.
The women that fight in the UFC deserve all the credit in the world for being incredible at what they do. As for harping on the White House card for the lack of female fighters, it’s a weak argument at best.
A stronger argument might be the case against Alex Pereira. One of the UFC’s biggest stars was knocked out in the UFC Freedom 250 co-main event, but it was the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) drawing first blood ahead of the card with what amounted to a hit piece published just days in advance. While the details of the story appear accurate, the timing of the article, including sexual assault allegations that were previously known, is rather suspect. Linking Pereira’s case to Epstein and the Trump administration is a stretch, and waiting until the 11th hour to publish it, while admitting that the details were previously reported, makes it seem rather political. The CBC is known to lean left, after all, a state sponsored media outlet that has come under increased scrutiny in recent years. Their MMA coverage tends to focus on Canadian talents, and little else.
The UFC has started leaning right more openly, and they had an event at the White House, facilitated by Donald Trump. The intent here is obvious.
And then there’s Josh Hokit, who may actually be smarter than you think (more on that later). Because following the White House card, more people were talking about Hokit than anyone else on the card. Sure, they were denouncing his comments that “Michelle Obama is a man,” but they’re still talking about him. Hokit is the heavyweight Chael Sonnen, and there’s no line he won’t piss all over. Was he out of bounds with the Obama crack? Absolutely. Does he even believe it? Doubtful. Hokit is a pro wrestling heel, and sees all heat as good heat. Getting a reaction is what he wants. In the online sense, he’s a troll, but it’s really pro wrestling that he’s drawing from. Watching media outlet after media outlet not doing their homework, not even recognizing that he’s playing a character, is downright depressing.
You can hate the character. You can claim that it’s a disgusting comment, even if it’s in character. To get the story wrong, however, and for so many to have failed to do even a minimal amount of background research, is beyond concerning. We now live in an era where even trained journalists are falling into the trap of reacting first, and thinking second. Not good.
Hokit is Getting What He Wans, Because You Refuse to Ignore Him
Josh Hokit may be smarter than you think.
Hokit has turned heads since arriving in the UFC last year, but it’s his 2026 run that has been remarkable, both in the cage and out of it. In fact, he’s well on his way to a Fighter of the Year award, or Breakout Fighter of the Year, at least if he keeps winning.
In the cage so far in 2026 Josh Hokit is 3-0, and two of those wins have come against athletes who have competed for gold in the UFC: Derrick Lewis and Curtis Blaydes. The Blaydes fight is one people are calling a Fight of the Year candidate, and one of the best heavyweight fights of all time, up there with Mark Hunt vs. Bigfoot Silva.
Unlike Hunt, Silva, Lewis, or Blaydes, Josh Hokit is not exactly an imposing physical specimen. Far from Brock Lesnar, he’s a former NFL player and amateur wrestler who clocks in around 230lbs, undersized for the heavyweight division. Yet his athleticism combined with a decent chin, grit, and talent have won him fights that might have been too much for many competitors his size.
If it was just success in the cage, however, we wouldn’t be talking about Hokit nearly as much. No, there’s “The Incredible Hok” to contend with, as well as several other Hokit personas. And that’s what had the fighting and non-fighting world alike squawking following the White House card.
Following a TKO victory against “The Black Beast” Lewis that saw Hokit dominate the bulk of the fight, he got on the mic with Joe Rogan, and let rip with his pro-wrestling style heel persona’s usual promo tactic: insult someone. This is pro wrestling 101: go into a town, insult it, get heat off the crowd. Diss the mayor. If you’re in another country, diss the President, or whoever the local hero is. You’re the bad guy, it’s your job. It’s how you get big enough as the “heel” to take on the top “babyface” (good guy) in the business.
Chael Sonnen and Colby Covington have gone this route before. Sonnen did it well, mostly, while Covington’s MAGA gimmick is now past its best-before date. Hokit, who happens to have ties to Chael P., is the latest to try it, and like Mick Foley before him, has opted to portray several characters: “The Incredible Hok,” always saying controversial things, some sort of Macho Man-style character who may be part of “The Incredible Hok,” a vaguely racist Mexican stereotype is yet another face of Josh Hokit, while “The Real Josh” is apparently a nervous, anxious wreck who spits up on himself at weigh-ins.
None of these characters are fully fleshed out at this point, and a lot of times, their portrayal comes off as awkward, met with silence from media members and confusion from fans. The nervous, anxious-ridden Josh might be the most original, and one that could actually throw opponents for a loop, at least if they didn’t know enough not to buy into Hokit’s “scared” routine. It’s “The Incredible Hok” that tends to say the controversial stuff, however.
The problem with Josh Hokit at UFC Freedom 250 is that he chose to insult a former first lady. To be fair, he couldn’t insult the current one, not with Donald Trump the very reason the UFC was at the White House. So he went for low-hanging fruit. “Michelle Obama is a man. Am I right, America?”
Now, this led to immense backlash from mainstream media outlets and talking heads online. For good reason, if you read those words in a vacuum. Obama was beloved as first lady, and the White House card was already divisive politically. The problem is, that backlash is exactly what Hokit wants. It’s the heel’s job to make you angry, so if you’re angry, he’s winning. If you despise his antics so much, you can choose to ignore him. Stop writing about him, stop giving him page space and airtime. In the immortal words of The Simpsons, “Just don’t look! Just don’t look!” Do that, and the monsters will all go away.
That’s a lot to ask in the “react first, think second” quagmire we find ourselves in these days. So Josh Hokit will continue on with his antics, and he may well be rewarded with a fight against Alex Pereira, should Pereira choose to remain at heavyweight. That’s an easy co-main event on a numbered card at this point. Dana White himself, a free speech champion, doesn’t love Hokit’s gimmick, but White is intelligent enough to know what the heavyweight is doing, and not about to turn away a potential cash cow.
Am I right, America?
Maybe Not the White House, but this Can’t Be a One-And-Done
The most energized UFC and MMA fans have been over the past couple of years has been for Noche UFC 306 at The Sphere, and UFC Freedom 250 at the White House. Both these events forced the promotion to think outside the box. They were incredible productions, historic events, monumental nights of fights and massively entertaining from start to finish.
The UFC’s production team, under Craig Bosari, exceeded expectations at both events. The Sphere card earned the promotion a pair of Emmy awards, and that’s no easy feat. The White House card will likely be in the running come awards season as well.
So, for the love of the sport, do not let Freedom 250 be a one-and-done.
Now let’s be clear, that does not mean doing another show on the White House lawn. That will probably never happen again. There’s a small chance Donald Trump says “hey, Dana, let’s do it again next year,” and despite White’s protests following the event that he’s done with outdoor shows, it would undoubtedly be hard to say no.
Still, another White House event is unlikely. Maybe even more so after news broke of a terror plot that was set to use explosive-packed drones to drive fans at the event towards waiting snipers. Luckily, that plot was foiled, and it’s currently unclear how far along preparations for the potential massacre were. Either way, the UFC would be wise to step back from politics for a time.
That said, big events is what UFC fans want. There are ways to top, or at least come close to, topping even the White House card. One that stands out is the Colosseum in Rome. Back in 2023, Dana White said he was in talks with Italy’s culture minister about hosting a fight between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg there. Now, no one really wanted to see a couple of billionaire (one is now a trillionaire) amateurs going at it, but the venue would be an incredible backdrop. One worth risking the elements for, if it could be secured.
A seven-fight card in the home of Rome’s great gladiators, featuring their non-lethal, modern day equivalent?
You’ve already got “The Claw,” the metal behemoth that was draped over the octagon on Sunday and framed the White House in the background. Constructed in part in Philadelphia, it can no doubt be modified, or a similar setup built. There are other venues, other locales, that would serve as an incredible backdrop for UFC events. Back when we all wanted the octagon on a beach with Tiki torches for Fight Island, well, we weren’t entirely wrong. Bring the fun, bring the spectacle back to the production side of MMA (while sticking to true sporting merit inside the cage).
To borrow another catchphrase connected to this weekend’s card, make MMA great again. Make it entertaining again. Make it matter again.
With the White House and the upcoming UFC 329, well, at least we’ve got steps in the right direction.
