Ilia Topuria and Josh Hokit clashed in a heated scene at the UFC Freedom 250 press conference held at the White House in Washington on June 14.
The entire fight card was on stage with microphones when Hokit directed comments at Alex Pereira about his language skills, saying, "He speaks English," and, "He says, 'Chama, chama, chama.'" Topuria then interrupted Hokit, and the two exchanged insults as tensions quickly escalated.
Security moved in as the situation intensified, with shouts of "F*ck yous" and "Chama, chama, chama." Amid the commotion, Topuria struck Hokit with an unidentified object that was on the table, and UFC security ultimately removed Hokit from the stage. Sean O'Malley was on stage during the incident and remained seated.
The confrontation came after Hokit had allegedly sized up Pereira at the host hotel earlier in the day. UFC Freedom 250 is headlined by Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje, with Pereira set to face Ciryl Gane in the heavyweight co-main event. The card also features Sean O'Malley vs. Aiemann Zahabi, Michael Chandler vs. Mauricio Ruffy, Kyle Daukaus vs. Bo Nickal, Steve Garcia vs. Diego Lopes, and Hokit vs. Derrick Lewis.
