HONK KONG🪿

Josh Hokit shows up in full costume with a middle finger in the air, and the media can't get enough of it. Everybody has to chime in on the gimmick while acknowledging he can fight, like we don't already know. Most of them stop there. But there's more behind The Incredible Hok. He never let the critics decide his path, and it keeps paying off. Under that is a kid from Wasco who started wrestling at four and won a national title at six. Football at seven. His family moved to Clovis so he and his brother could wrestle for a real program. He peaked third in the country as a senior. On recruiting visits he kept telling coaches the same thing: Heavyweight Champion or Bust. His high school coach tried to get him to stop saying it, the same way the media does now. He didn't stop then either. He walked on at Fresno State in both sports, earned the scholarship, and became an All-American on the mat while running the ball on the field. He made All-American as a junior. Then COVID wiped out the end of his senior wrestling season. He sat in his room knowing it was just over. No last tournament. No chance to finish what he'd started. So he shifted to his other path, football, and went to the NFL. Practice squad with the 49ers, a short look with the Cardinals. He never got to play a regular-season snap. They cut him in 2022. Both paths he'd had since he was a kid just stopped. He was in his early twenties with no team, no season, and no plan. He's said he didn't know what to do. But Josh didn't stop. He went back to the mats, but for MMA. He went pro in 2023, then got a Dana White's Contender Series win, followed by a pro wrestling promo on the mic. Three more fights, three more wins, and national attention every time he spoke. Josh has skyrocketed to a title shot, through a fight at the White House and Dana intentionally feeding him stiff competition. He keeps saying it takes ten years to make an overnight sensation. The media is too busy talking to listen. He said it another way this week: you don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there. Every time life hit, he kept moving. Even now, walking past the critics and doubters. Saturday he struts into Madison Square Garden as the main event. He'll probably be wearing a bandana and waving a middle finger too. The kid who kept saying Heavyweight Champion or Bust isn't a gimmick now. People should stop telling Josh Hokit what to do and watch what he does next: win the UFC Heavyweight Championship. #AndNew #UFC334