Expectations were not high for the heavyweight matchup between Curtis Blaydes and Josh Hokit at UFC 327. There were multiple reasons for that. No one can deny, however, that the two put on a 15-minute performance that blew people away.

Blaydes vs. Hokit was not the matchup a lot of people were excited about entering UFC 327. 

It felt like a fight that was solely designed for Hokit to get another victory and move him, lightning fast, up the ranks of a lackluster heavyweight scene in the UFC.

Josh Hokit

Hokit’s MMA career is still fairly young. He was a standout wrestler at Fresno State; in 2018, he became the college’s first All-American in the sport since 2003. But Hokit chose the football life, having also served as a tight end and fullback at Fresno State. Hokit went undrafted in 2020 but signed a contract with the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent. Unfortunately for Hokit, he spent 2020-22 solely on the practice squad or futures contracts with the 49ers and the Arizona Cardinals.

But then Hokit made his way to MMA. He scored a pair of finishes with Bellator in 2023 and 2024 before three straight first-round finishes with the LFA in 2025. That set him up for a shot on Dana White’s Contender Series, where he scored a second-round stoppage over Guilherme Uriel. Hokit then fought at UFC Vegas 111 and UFC 324, scoring first-round finishes over Max Gimenis and Denzel Freeman, respectively.

Hokit, however, has been a very big magnet of controversy. He delivers cringe-style promos and characters in a way that makes you think he belongs in WWE more than UFC. He dropped the N-word at UFC 324. He has called Britney Griner and former U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama men. The UFC 324 promo, in particular, was lambasted by several outlets, and even UFC CEO and President Dana White couldn’t defend it.

But White also knows eye-drawing attention when he sees it, and it seems he sees that with Hokit.

Curtis Blaydes

Blaydes, however, has also been subjected to a lot of criticism. A lot of it has been centered around feelings that Blaydes hasn’t been the most exciting fighter to watch. Blaydes was an NJCAA national wrestling champion, and he uses that wrestling as his base in MMA. The result is one of those fighting styles that focuses on takedowns and control on the ground that you don’t mind if you appreciate wrestling and grappling, or that you absolutely hate if you want to see heavyweights stand and bang.

White has also been a previous critic of Bladyes’ fight style and attitude.

Blaydes has also not performed in some of his bigger opportunities, from his KO loss to Derrick Lewis in 2021, to getting stopped by Sergei Pavlovich in 2023, and getting quickly finished by Tom Aspinall in their interim title fight in 2024. It’s given him a lot of “low Fight IQ” and “glass jaw” tags.

The Fight

The majority opinion was Hokit vs. Blaydes would go one of two ways: Hokit would finish Blaydes quickly or Blaydes would out-wrestle Hokit in a 15-minute snoozefest.

Instead, for 15 minutes, these two went toe-for-toe and shot-for-shot. It got sloppy at times, it wasn’t the neatest fight, but, my goodness, was it a back-and-forth brawl that was fun to watch.

Hokit looked like he’d get Blaydes out of there quickly. Then Blaydes finally was able to wrestle, and he started to trouble Hokit against the fence. Each man wobbled the other to points where it looked like the fight would get stopped, but it kept going. Each man looked like at one point or another they’d gas out, but both kept going.

Hokit got his hand raised in the end, but it was the kind of fight heavyweight has been needing.

With a murky championship picture and a slew of boring, losing, or undeserved fighters throughout the division, even in the rankings, Hokit and Blaydes put on a performance that is to be remembered. Depending how the rest of 2026 plays out, it might even be Fight of the Year.

White still doesn’t like Hokit’s persona, but no one can deny Hokit has earned his stripes. He even got booked against Lewis for the White House card because of this night!

Hats off to Hokit and Blaydes. Thanks for reminding us what heavyweight MMA can be.