Ilia Topuria has broken down his heated confrontation with Josh Hokit during a UFC White House press conference held earlier this month ahead of UFC 328.
The UFC lightweight champion clashed with Hokit after the heavyweight prospect directed trash talk toward Alex Pereira, prompting Topuria to throw a cup at him before security stepped in to separate the two. Topuria is set to defend his lightweight title against interim champion Justin Gaethje in the main event of the White House card, while Hokit is scheduled to face Derrick Lewis on the same lineup.
Speaking with Alvaro Colmenero about the incident, Topuria said, "I couldn’t believe it," and added, "I’ve been at many press conferences, I’ve seen everything. But I’ve never seen anyone stand up and talk about someone’s mother in such a disrespectful way." He continued, "I mean, it was pretty disrespectful. And Alex, at the same time, there was so much noise you couldn’t hear much, and I said I can’t believe he’s saying all this stuff for no reason. Because you’re not even going to fight him. No, no. What for? You can talk about the other’s professionalism, you can go after each other, it’s fine. We’re used to it. We know what we’re in for. But talking about the other’s mother in that way, it made my blood boil."
Topuria also reflected on the moment he threw the cup, saying, "The cup definitely couldn’t miss," and added, "Lucky he had so many security people there, because, come on. One of the two was coming out worse off and it wasn’t going to be me."
Hokit later responded on social media, writing, "You’d never survive at a middle school lunch table in America then," and, "You sheltered little boy, I said I’m gonna Chama on his Mama. If that’s so bad, then that begs the question, what does “Chama” even mean."
