Josh Hokit Torches Alex Pereira's Push for a Ciryl Gane Rematch

Alex Pereira wants Ciryl Gane a second time. Josh Hokit thinks that's absurd — and he said so in the bluntest terms possible. The undefeated heavyweight, 10-0 with six knockouts, ripped into Pereira for chasing a rematch after Gane demolished him in the second round, arguing the former two-division champ hasn't earned so much as a single heavyweight win yet.

Hokit's math is hard to argue with. Pereira is 13-4 overall and sits at #3 at light heavyweight, but the loss to Gane — a clean second-round KO — is his only outing at the weight. Gane, meanwhile, is the #1 heavyweight at 14-2 and now owns a finish over Pereira. Handing Pereira an immediate do-over, Hokit's logic goes, skips the part where you rebuild before you get another crack.

The Callout

Hokit didn't just question the matchmaking. He suggested Pereira take an easier assignment first — floating Sergei Pavlovich as a more favorable, less athletic striker than Gane — before demanding the ranks close up around him. His point was simple and pointed: get one win at heavyweight before you're gifted another title shot.

Wrestling Talk

The other half of Hokit's tirade took aim at anyone praising Pereira's grappling. He dismissed the fighter's defensive credentials as basic Sambo and Greco work rather than elite wrestling, and leaned on his own résumé to make the case, claiming he's manhandled a top American Greco-Roman competitor. It's the kind of technical flex that reads as a challenge more than an insult.

That's the subtext here. Hokit is 10-0 and coming off a second-round finish of Derrick Lewis, and he's #4 in a division where the champion just beat a superstar. He doesn't need Pereira's name for validation, but a big-fight callout is a big-fight callout — and picking a public fight with a two-time UFC champion is how contenders get noticed.

For now, Pereira's next opponent is officially TBA, with a title eliminator the expected route back. Whether the promotion humors the Gane rematch or sends him to prove himself first, Hokit has made his position loud and clear: earn it.