Dana White admits personal dislike influenced Josh Hokit’s UFC matchmaking

Dana White is seemingly getting on board with Josh Hokit despite having admitted that he isn’t a fan of the UFC star.

When Josh Hokit made his emergence into the premier promotion, the UFC boss Dana White admitted that he isn’t a fan of Hokit’s character and the things he says on the microphone.

And despite the fact that ‘The Incredible Hok’ has earned a title shot in just his fifth UFC fight, White has revealed that because of his dislike for the 28-year-old, he has given him some unfavorable matchups.

White says he threw some ‘tough guys’ at Hokit because he didn’t like some of his comments

This coming November 14, Hokit takes on Ciryl Gane for the vacant heavyweight title in the UFC 334 main event. To earn that shot, he had to get through the likes of Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis, to prove that he is worthy of fighting for the title.

Despite that, the UFC boss has admitted that because he doesn’t like some of the things Hokit says and his character, he matched him up against some ‘tough guys’. “Yeah, Hokit was the fight to make,” White told Jim Rome regarding the criticism of the heavyweight title fight. “Hokit has been overlooked the entire time not only by the fans and the media, but by me. I didn’t like some of the things he said so I might’ve threw some tough guys at him and he passed every test and here he is. Like him or hate him, he fought his way to the top, there’s no denying that this guy deserves the title shot,” White continued.

White first admitted his dislike for the 28-year-old ahead of UFC 327 when Hokit took over the press conference with his strange characters. The UFC boss’ dislike then heightened when Hokit made a controversial comment at UFC Freedom 250, saying ‘Michelle Obama is a man’, which left White extremely unhappy.

Over the years, though, the UFC has had to learn how to deal with controversial champions as Sean Strickland consistently creates problems for the promotion with some of his comments. And with Hokit continuing to gain star power, White likely sees the potential financial gain of having ‘The Incredible Hok’ as the champion, despite the potential for some issues.

Despite White’s comments, Hokit’s run in the UFC hasn’t exactly been a murderers’ row. He was given an extremely favorable matchup at UFC Freedom 250 against Derrick Lewis, who going into that fight was 3-2 in his last five fights, and he has been showing clear regression.

And although Hokit’s fight against Blaydes was a Fight of the Year contender, ‘Razor’ Blaydes came close to finishing him multiple times, despite not being widely regarded as one of the tougher fighters in the division.

White’s admission surfaces some concern, though, as he has openly admitted that depending on whether the promotion likes a fighter, they will give them harder or easier fights. That could lead to conflicts with fighters further down the line, potentially affecting the UFC’s position in the market.