"Shut up!"
Hokit currently stands as a -410 betting favorite against veteran knockout artist Derrick Lewis for their scheduled heavyweight matchup on Sunday.
Meanwhile, interim heavyweight title challenger Alex Pereira addressed his prior interactions with Hokit during an interview on "The Ariel Helwani Show."
Pereira noted that Hokit had crossed a line during their backstage and onstage encounters in May, particularly by trash-talking his mother.
"He did cross the line.
I already saw guys trash talk other fighters, trash talk the father of the fighter, trash talk whatever, but never trash talk the mother," Pereira said through an interpreter.
Pereira also detailed a private, non-confrontational backstage encounter with Hokit that occurred on the same day before security guards were present.
"It's easy to say when there's a lot of security around, and anything can happen," said Pereira.
"Earlier that same day, he bumped into me, and he was about three or four feet away from me.
He looked at me and said, 'Chama.' Turned around and kept going."
Pereira, who expects to weigh around 251 pounds for his fight against Ciryl Gane, expressed his desire to remain highly active throughout the remaining months of 2026.
"I want to fight as soon as possible after this fight," said Pereira. "Jon Jones, I don't know if he's training.
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Doesn't seem to be training. Aspinall, maybe is not going to be ready."
