{"id":36863,"date":"2026-02-24T15:44:34","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T15:44:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Outspoken-heavyweight-prospect-gets-big-step-up-in-competition-at-UFC-327-200235"},"modified":"2026-02-24T15:44:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T15:44:34","slug":"outspoken-heavyweight-prospect-gets-big-step-up-in-competition-at-ufc-327","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/outspoken-heavyweight-prospect-gets-big-step-up-in-competition-at-ufc-327\/","title":{"rendered":"Outspoken heavyweight prospect gets big step up in competition at UFC 327"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n
\n
<\/center>\n<\/div>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

Josh
\nHokit has made a name for himself in a short time in the UFC. |
\nGetty\/UFC<\/b><\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n

\n

Josh
\nHokit<\/a> will be swimming in deep waters in his next Octagon
\napppearance.<\/p>\n

The undefeated heavyweight prospect will lock horns with perennial
\ncontender Curtis
\nBlaydes<\/a> at UFC 327<\/a>
\nin Miami, the promotion announced Tuesday. A handful of other bouts
\n\u2014 some previously reported \u2014 were also confirmed for the April 11
\nevent: Kevin
\nHolland<\/a> vs. Randy Brown<\/a>
\nat welterweight; Paulo Costa<\/a>
\nvs. Azamat
\nMurzakanov<\/a> at heavyweight and Dominick
\nReyes<\/a> vs. Johnny
\nWalker<\/a> at light heavyweight.<\/p>\n

UFC 327 takes place at the Kaseya Center in Miami and features
\nflyweight title tilt pitting Joshua Van<\/a>
\nagainst Tatsuro
\nTaira<\/a>. It is currently unclear if Van vs. Taira will be the
\nevening\u2019s main event. The entirety of the card airs on
\nParamount+.<\/p>\n

A Gap in Experience<\/h2>\n

Hokit is undefeated in eight professional outings and has finished
\nall of his opponents inside the distance. After earning a contract
\non
\nDana White’s Contender Series<\/a> this past August, \u201cThe Incredible
\nHok\u201d has kicked off his
\nUFC<\/a> tenure with first-round stoppages of Max Gimenis<\/a>
\nand Denzel
\nFreeman<\/a>. In addition to his penchant for quick finishes, Hokit
\nhas made a name for himself thanks to his pro wrestling persona in
\ninterviews.<\/p>\n

Blaydes represents a significant step up from the likes of Gimenis
\nand Freeman, however. The 35-year-old Illinois native is 14-5 with
\none no contest since making his Octagon debut in 2016. He owns
\nnotable wins against the likes of Mark Hunt<\/a>,
\nAlistair
\nOvereem<\/a>, Junior dos
\nSantos<\/a>, Alexander
\nVolkov<\/a>, Jairzinho
\nRozenstruik<\/a>, Tom
\nAspinall<\/a> (via injury) and Jailton
\nAlmeida<\/a>. Most recently, Blaydes took a split verdict over
\nRizvan
\nKuniev<\/a> at UFC Baku in June. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Josh Hokit has made a name for himself in a short time in the UFC. | Getty\/UFC Josh Hokit will be swimming in deep waters in his next Octagon apppearance. The undefeated heavyweight prospect will lock horns with perennial contender Curtis Blaydes at UFC 327 in Miami, the promotion announced Tuesday. A handful of other […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36864,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[150],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-martial-arts-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36863\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}