UFC heavyweight Josh Hokit said Wednesday he has no regrets about remarks made from the White House after he won at UFC Freedom 250.
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UFC heavyweight Josh Hokit said Wednesday that he has no regrets about using the White House as a “bully pulpit” for what he described as an unfounded attack on former first lady Michelle Obama.
Hokit made the comments inside the octagon in June after winning at UFC Freedom 250, an event held on the South Lawn of the White House to mark President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday. He later took questions about his championship bout and the remarks during a news event at a New York hotel on Wednesday.
“I’ll never look back and be like, I regret that,” Hokit said.
Wearing a black stocking cap over an American flag bandana, sunglasses and fight gloves, Hokit said he “took the rap of a villain” before launching into what he called a freestyle rap as he described his lack of regret. He said he was “sure it wasn’t” the right thing to do to insult the former first lady, but added he was proud the comments helped put his image on Trump’s Truth Social posts, including a cartoon featuring Hokit alongside UFC president Dana White in the White House briefing room.
Hokit also addressed how the White House setting affected his remarks. “Was it not a good location to say it? I mean, we’re at the White House. That house represents freedom of speech. So it is what it is. I think it was the perfect location to say it,” he said. Trump said over the weekend he offered Hokit a job as White House press secretary, which White declined.
The 28-year-old Hokit is 10-0 in his MMA career and has won all six fights since joining UFC in 2025. He fights for the first time since UFC Freedom 250 on Saturday, when he challenges heavyweight champion Cyril Gane in the main event of UFC 334 at Madison Square Garden.
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