![\"No.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2280925965-GI.JPG\" "\\"No.")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
No. 5 UFC heavyweight fighter Josh Hokit answers questions during the UFC Freedom 250 Media Day at the JW Marriott Hotel on June 10, 2026 in Washington, DC. Organized by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) — the world’s largest professional mixed martial arts promotion company — the event is being hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump on his birthday and will take place on the White House’s South Lawn on June 14.<\/p>\n
Chip Somodevilla<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
UFC President and CEO Dana White publicly condemned Josh Hokit on Monday after the undefeated fighter sparked controversy with comments about former First Lady Michelle Obama following his victory over Derrick Lewis at the UFC Freedom 250<\/a> card outside the White House.<\/p>\n In a text message to TIME magazine<\/a>, White criticized Hokit for bringing family members into public attacks.<\/p>\n \u201cI understand that the Obama\u2019s are public figures but I\u2019m completely against saying nasty and false things about people\u2019s families. Everyone knows my position on free speech but I hate that kind of nonsense,\u201d White wrote.<\/p>\n The backlash stemmed from Hokit\u2019s post-fight interview with Joe Rogan inside the octagon after his TKO victory over Lewis. During the interview, Hokit referred to Michelle Obama as \u201ca man\u201d before adding, \u201cAm I right, America?\u201d<\/p>\n The remark quickly drew criticism from several public figures.<\/p>\n Actor and comedian Shane Gillis addressed the comment during an interview with TMZ.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t love that,\u201d Gillis said. \u201cI didn\u2019t like that.\u201d<\/p>\n Former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III was also among Hokit\u2019s harshest critics.<\/p>\n Josh Hokit won the biggest fight of his career at the White House and decides to finish his interview by calling Michelle Obama a Man.<\/p>\n What a disgrace.<\/p>\n It takes a really small man to use his biggest moment to attack a woman by calling her a man.<\/p>\n Especially with the history\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) June 15, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n \u201cWhat a disgrace,\u201d Griffin wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. \u201cIt takes a really small man to use his biggest moment to attack a woman by calling her a man. Especially with the history behind calling black women men.\u201d<\/p>\n Hokit, a Clovis High grad and former Fresno State standout football player and wrestler, later addressed the controversy in an interview, saying the comment came from his \u201cIncredible Hok\u201d character rather than himself.<\/p>\n On Monday morning, Hokit returned to X and wrote: \u201cGuys\u2026 Trump likes Derrick Lewis so I didn\u2019t want to break his arm in front of him\u2026 I wanted a TKO anyways.\u201d<\/p>\n The post sparked another wave of responses, many referencing his Michelle Obama comment. One user wrote that Hokit does not \u201cbelong in the UFC.\u201d<\/p>\n With the victory, Hokit improved to 10-0 in his MMA career, including six wins by knockout.<\/p>\n This story was originally published June 15, 2026 at 12:28 PM.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n Anthony Galaviz<\/a><\/p>\n The Fresno Bee<\/p>\n Anthony Galaviz writes about sports for The Fresno Bee. He covers the Las Vegas Raiders, high schools, boxing, MMA and junior colleges. He\u2019s been with The Bee since 1997 and attended Fresno City College before graduating from Fresno State with a major in journalism and a minor in criminology.![\"No.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1781568732_812_2280925965-GI.JPG\" "\\"2280925965-GI.JPG\\"")
No. 5 UFC heavyweight fighter Josh Hokit answers questions during the UFC Freedom 250 Media Day at the JW Marriott Hotel on June 10, 2026 in Washington, DC. Organized by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) — the world’s largest professional mixed martial arts promotion company — the event is being hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump on his birthday and will take place on the White House’s South Lawn on June 14. Chip Somodevilla Getty Images <\/p>\n
\n
\n <\/a><\/p>\n
\n Support my work with a digital subscription<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"No. 5 UFC heavyweight fighter Josh Hokit answers questions during the UFC Freedom 250 Media Day at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":362077,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-362076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362076\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/362077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}