Sean Strickland has taken aim at Josh Hokit's MMA persona, publicly urging the undefeated heavyweight to drop what he views as an act.
Hokit is 9-0 in MMA and 3-0 in the UFC, and is coming off a double bonus-winning victory over Curtis Blaydes at UFC 327 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. After that win, he was booked to fight Derrick Lewis at UFC Freedom 250 on the White House card at the request of President Trump.
Strickland did not hold back when discussing Hokit's approach outside the cage. "It's like, Josh Hokit, dude, you're a grown-ass man," Strickland said. "You're like almost 30 years old, and you're acting like f*cking Jake Paul when he was 13. Stop, bro. You made it. People know who you are. Just stop. You don't got to go interview homeless people and be f*cking weird.. Just fight now."
Despite the criticism, Strickland also emphasized their history together. "I've met Josh, and I've trained with Josh. He's actually a really likable guy. He's come to the gym. He's a really nice guy, and I consider him a friend of mine. But at some point, dude, it's such a fabricated image. It reminds me of like a WWE skit that I just want to die."
Hokit responded by calling for a fight. "Let’s fight… I’ll show you the difference between me and Jake Paul…" he said, later adding, "Shawn Strickland, complaining about a persona is like a circus clown complaining about too many balloons. You’re just mad because my WWE skit has better ratings than your personality."
Strickland, a former UFC middleweight champion, is currently scheduled to challenge middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev in the UFC 328 main event.
