UFC Heavyweight Josh Hokit’s Journey from College Football Walk-On

The lead official walked over to Clovis High School head coach Rich Hammond, pointed at one of Clovis' linebackers and said: "I need him to not tackle people so hard. He's going to hurt somebody."

Hammond walked over to Josh Hokit to deliver the message.

"Keep doing what you're doing," Hammond said. "But let's maybe not pick the dude up over your head and slam him to the ground."

That's when Hokit slipped into a styling that's now become a key aspect of his public persona: referring to himself in the third person.

"Josh Hokit will never be soft," he said.

"If this game is too soft for Josh Hokit, Josh Hokit will quit."

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He didn't have to. Hammond, at the advice of the referee, moved Hokit to offense where he could be as violent as he'd like. Hammond called running back power and watched his senior pummel defenders play after play.

"That sums up his mentality as a football player," Hammond said.

A decade later, Josh Hokit is equal parts fighter, troll and performer.

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He's an ascending UFC star, a 9-0 heavyweight who rocketed to the national consciousness in April with a fight against Curtis Blaydes that the official UFC YouTube channel dubbed, "the greatest heavyweight fight ever."

President Donald Trump, ringside for the fight, has reportedly declared the stars-and-stripe bandana-wearing heavyweight his new favorite fighter, playing a big role in getting Hokit on the UFC Freedom 250 fight card at the White House.

Hokit is a swaggering showman, who comes off more like a WWE heel than ultimate fighter. He's grabbed audiences with his electric fighting style and grated many with his controversial statements and bravado -- he flipped Blaydes off several times mid-fight while dodging punches.

It leads one to wonder: How much of Hokit's stage presence is a calculated show versus who Hokit is away from the spotlight?

To understand who Hokit is beneath the bravado, CBS Sports spoke to the coaches and teammates who knew him first as a football player and wrestler. Hokit was a walk-on turned star at Fresno State before a stint in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers.

It's a background those who played and coached with him believe created the foundation for the fighter -- and maybe even the characters -- we see today.

"He was everything you want in a football player," said Hokit's running back coach at Fresno State, Jamie Christian. "When it's all said and done, he's a good young man. I know his heart."

There were a few weeks left in the regular season when Fresno State hired Jeff Tedford as coach on Nov. 10, 2016. Tedford used the rest of the regular season to scout.

He'd sit in the stands and scribble notes. One scrimmage during that period, Tedford remembers watching a freshman running back run the ball over and over again.

Tedford lost count of the consecutive attempts. He could never forget the contact.

"He just got stronger," Tedford said. "I remember thinking, 'I can't wait to meet that kid.'"

Fresno State's roster listed Hokit as a walk-on linebacker at 6-foot-2, 215 pounds. Tedford put him on scholarship by the end of the following spring.

"It was a no brainer," Christian said. "We were lucky he was there."

How he got there is, as Hammond would put it, a very Josh Hokit story.

Hammond remembers telling Hokit he needed to make a highlight tape in order to help his recruitment. He came back with a HUDL cutup named: " Truck Stick ." It's a one-minute and 52-second reel of his biggest hits.

No interceptions. No catches. No long runs. Just collisions.

"That's him," Hammond said. "That's his playing style."

College coaches agreed ... eventually.

Hokit experienced a tepid recruiting process ahead of his senior year in part because coaches would always see him at his wrestling weight, some 30 pounds less than the 200 pounds he played at during the fall. As one coach from Arizona told Hammond during a spring visit: "I take dumps bigger than him."

But by his senior year the film was undeniable. Mountain West schools like Utah State and Nevada were close to offering. Hammond even set up a visit for Hokit to Reno. But before it happened, Hammond got a pissed off call from an assistant coach for the Wolf Pack.

"He was yelling at me about how there was going to be an NCAA investigation and submit statements," Hammond said. "I'm like, 'Woah, woah. What's happening?'

Unbeknownst to Hammond (or anyone recruiting him), Hokit already signed a wrestling scholarship with Drexel. Once you sign an NCAA scholarship, even in another sport, you can't take other visits.

It'd take him until June to get out of the scholarship. By that time, he was basically blacklisted with only walk-on opportunities.

"I shouldn't laugh," Hammond said. "But it's the perfect Josh situation."

Said then Fresno State wrestling coach Troy Steiner: "To be honest, he fell into our lap."

Ironically, part of what made Hokit such a valuable football player was his ability to fit in any situation.

In his first game playing for Tedford -- with now Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer calling plays as offensive coordinator -- Hokit did all of these things:

- Run for two scores - Throw a 65-yard touchdown - Line up as an attached tight end - Line up in the slot - Played in five different special teams roles

Christian, who also served as Fresno State's special teams coach, said Hokit was always one of his first choices for any special teams unit.

"I had so much confidence in everything he did," Christian said. "Ultimate trust."

Despite playing in a backfield with two future NFL backs -- Ronnie Rivers and Jordan Mims -- Fresno State would often close games with Hokit. It did so in 2016 against BYU. Up seven with 20 seconds remaining, Fresno State had the option to kick field goal or end the game with a first down.

Tedford decided to go for it. It seemed like a crazy call. Even Tedford's son, a recruiting assistant, told his dad: "What are you doing? Kick the field goal."

"Get back. I got this."

He did indeed. Hokit got the ball. Then he got two yards.

Fast forward to 2017 where he piled up 77 rushing yards on 14 carries for a career high three touchdowns against rival San Diego State.

"When he puts his mind to it -- he'll get it done," Tedford said.

Rivers and Hokit were roommates for road games. Those trips are what you would expect for a group of 18 to 23-year-old athletes. It's everything from shit-talking to wrestling. Just guys being dudes messing around.

"And Josh was always involved," Rivers said.

Rivers still laughs describing Hokit's personality. He calls Hokit "goofy spirited."

On the field, Hokit wanted to run through your face. Off it, he wanted teammates to come over so he could help produce their rap album. Hokit believed so much in his ability as a musician he called Hammond once asking if he could help secure funding to get an album made on CDs.

Tedford labeled Hokit "the most respectful guy" and remembered Hokit carrying around a 3.5 GPA. He always had a smile.

He liked making people smile, too. Christian considered Hokit a class clown figure of his running back room. He used to walk around like UFC superstar Conor McGregor , a swaggering personality he could summon in an instant.

When you watch Hokit shift from character to character as a UFC fighter, Rivers sees the college teammate who would mess around with different voices to make his teammates cackle.

"A lot of those characters stem from football," Rivers said. "I have videos of me and Josh doing his little Vato voice just down the hallway and messing around. We had little nicknames for each other. I'm not surprised that's what he's doing."

A troll-like bravado it may be on the UFC stage, but the underlying personality trait of Hokit was the need to be the toughest guy in the room.

But Christian would always warn Hokit: The one guy you can't mess with is Lorenzo Neal.

A teammate of Christian's in college at Fresno State, Neal was a 275-pound All-American wrestler at Fresno State from 1989-1992 who went on to become a multi-time NFL all-pro fullback.

Didn't matter much to Hokit, himself an All-American wrestler for the Bulldogs, albeit at 197 pounds. He wouldn't back down.

So, one day Christian invited his former teammate to campus.

Neal, a massive human to this day at around 250 pounds, walked into the room with one question: "Who's that Josh Hokit kid?" Then he got down on all fours in a wrestling stance and said, "Come on boy, let's go for a ride."

"Hokit was looking at him like, 'Oh damn," Christian said. "We all started laughing."

When then Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh hosted a camp in Fresno, he asked Hokit what he wanted to major in college.

Hokit responded: "I'm going to be the MMA heavyweight champion."

Hammond tried to train Hokit out of that answer for future recruiting-related conversations -- it happened again when Utah State visited Clovis High School -- but Hokit was always resolute.

"That's what I'm going to do," Hokit told Hammond. "It's heavyweight champion or bust."

Hokit did have a stint in the NFL after tallying 1,260 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns with Fresno State. He signed with the 49ers in 2020 as an NFL free agent and made the practice squad as a fullback. He'd stick around in the league through August 2022 when he was cut by the Arizona Cardinals.

That's when Hokit pivoted back to Plan A.

Rivers remembers Hokit telling him he planned to pursue MMA during a video game session. He didn't know it was coming. He still figured his friend would find a way.

"It's kind of what he does," Rivers said.

Hokit may have wrestled in college at 197 pounds. But Rivers said he always preferred to wrestle in the heaviest class possible because he felt his cardio and speed gave him an advantage.

It's likely the reason Hokit is fighting at 233 pounds despite going up against heavyweights like Derrick Lewis , who typically touch the heavyweight limit of 265 pounds.

Hokit is quirky. Maybe a bit rash. But his big decisions aren't an accident.

He performs in a sport where you get paid more for a fight of the night and purse sizes are determined largely by a fighter's ability to attract eyeballs. It's why a player Tedford described as "just the most respectful guy" and Steiner considered almost quiet can also go on an explicit press conference tirade to promote a fight.

"You see him now in front of the camera and he knows how to sell a ticket and what will keep him on the big stage and get him big fights," Steiner said. "He understands the business side of it. But he's really not like that when you're one on one with him."

The people who knew Hokit before the UFC don't see a contradiction.

They see the same succeed-at-any-cost athlete who's amplified his personality to stand out.

"I know he rubs people the wrong way with some of the stuff he's doing," Christian said. "And I don't want to say it's an act, but he's having fun. He's not trying to offend anybody. He's just enjoying it. He's a tough ass kid -- I'm telling you. I just think he's trying to get into people's heads because he knows he can back it up."

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_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/ufc/news/josh-hokit-fresno-state-ufc-white-house-freedom-250/)._