Daniel Cormier has his eye on a potential future heavyweight showdown between Josh Hokit and Gable Steveson in the UFC, a matchup he can see even carrying title stakes.
Speaking while promoting his coaching role on The Ultimate Fighter 34, the former UFC heavyweight champion and Hall of Famer laid out why Steveson has his attention. “Gable Steveson's tremendous,” Cormier said. “He's an Olympic gold medalist. NCAA champion. His ceiling is world champion. His talent, his ability, his mindset – he can do it all. I'm interested to see how quickly he rises. I think when you have a skillset like that it happens fast. That's what we're seeing right now with Josh Hokit. Josh Hokit fought two fights and then he beat the No. 4 guy in the world in Curtis Blaydes. Now he's one of the top five heavyweights in the world. I imagine Gable Steveson's path will be something similar to that. Fight a couple guys, get somebody better.”
Hokit is currently 9-0 in MMA, 3-0 in the UFC and ranked in the top five at heavyweight, coming off a win over Curtis Blaydes at UFC 327 in a bout described as a Fight of the Year frontrunner. He now makes a quick turnaround against Derrick Lewis at UFC Freedom 250 on June 14.
Steveson, 3-0 in MMA, is scheduled to make his UFC debut at UFC 329 on July 11 against an undetermined opponent.
“We've been dying for the America wrestler in the heavier weight classes since a lot of us retired recently. Now we have them. Hokit's an All-American. Steveson's a champion. What a storyline that would be. Could you imagine Gable Steveson, the All-American world champion, then Josh Hokit, the bad guy, fighting for a UFC title? That would be f*cking cinema. It would be cinema.”
