Josh Hokit hits Ciryl Gane with a 'your mom' joke at UFC 334 presser: "This is the champion?"
Moments earlier, Gane said of the act: "This is his character and I understand it and I'm really comfortable with it." They fight for the heavyweight title on Saturday.
Josh Hokit led the room in a "f*ck Ciryl Gane" chant and then went after the champion's mum at the UFC 334 press conference in New York on Thursday, two days before he challenges Ciryl Gane for the UFC heavyweight title.
Wearing goggles, Hokit told the crowd: "I want you to yell at the top of your lungs, f*ck Ciryl Gane, on three. One, two, three." The room shouted it back. Then Hokit spoke to Gane, sat beside him: "Hey, Ciryl, how's your mom doing? You know what I'm saying?"
He followed it with a joke: "Hey, what's the difference between your mom and a washing machine? When I dump a load in the washing machine, she don't follow me around for nine months."
"Look how I talk to him. Look how I talk to him, you know what I'm saying? This is the champion? F*ck out of here, b*tch," Hokit said.
Gane had been asked about the act moments earlier. "This is his character and I understand it and I'm really comfortable with it," he said. Asked whether Hokit had earned the title shot, he said: "Yeah, honestly, he deserved it," adding that Hokit's big mouth was "pretty good for the business".
Dana White said he "didn't like his shtick" but added: "He earned this fight. That he absolutely did."
Gane told RMC Sport last week that Hokit can say what he wants and can insult his mother, because he does not know her (read more).
Hokit, who is 10-0 and ranked fourth, makes his title challenge against Gane in the UFC 334 main event at Madison Square Garden on Saturday 14 November. The main card starts at 2am UK time on Sunday, live on TNT Sports.
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