One of the featured fighters in Week 2 of Dana White’s Contender Series is a former college football star who also had a cup of coffee in the NFL.
Josh Hokit, who is 5-0 in professional mixed martial arts, is set to take on Guilherme Uriel in a heavyweight matchup on Tuesday evening at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Hokit, 27, played tight end and fullback at Fresno State before spending 2020 and 2021 with the San Francisco 49ers organization. He had a brief stint with the Arizona Cardinals in 2022 before turning his attention to MMA.
The Clovis, Calif., resident was a standout amateur wrestler before focusing on football during and after college. He made his pro MMA debut in 2023 and picked up a pair of wins in the now-defunct Bellator organization. He also has three wins in Legacy Fighting Alliance.
All five of Hokit’s wins have been by stoppage, including three in a row in the first round. Uriel, 28, is 6-1 in MMA and is also coming from LFA. He has finished his past two opponents within 90 seconds of the opening round.
Hokit isn’t the first former football player to compete on the Contender Series.
Notably, in 2018, controversial former NFL Pro Bowl defensive end Greg Hardy made his professional mixed martial arts debut against fellow former NFLer Austen Lane.
Hardy won that fight by knockout in just 57 seconds and won a second fight on the Contender Series two months later. He ended up fighting 10 times in the UFC between 2019 and 2022. Lane, meanwhile, has fought six times in the UFC and is still on the active roster.
Hokit is one of six undefeated fighters set to compete Week 2.
Featherweights Tommy Cuozzi (8-0) and Ramiro Jimenez (10-0) kick off the five-fight card. Middleweight Brandon Holmes looks to improve to 6-0 as he faces Cam Rowston, who lost a decision to Torrez Finney last year on DWCS.
Unbeaten bantamweights Louis Lee Scott (9-0) and Kaushik Saikumar (5-0) are on the card, which is headlined by talented 145-pounders Manuel Exposito and Jose Mauro Delano.
Scott was the lone fighter to miss weight Monday, with the 25-year-old from England initially missing by a pound and a half. He was given an additional hour to make weight, but still ended up a half pound over the non-title bantamweight limit. The bout is expected to proceed at a catchweight.
Below are the official weigh-in results for DWCS Season 9, Week 2:
— Manuel Exposito (145.5) vs. Jose Mauro Delano (145)
— Brandon Holmes (184) vs. Cameron Rowston (185)
— Louis Lee Scott (136.5)* vs. Kaushik Saikumar (135.5)
— Josh Hokit (229.5) vs. Guilherme Uriel (249.5)
— Tommy Cuozzi (145.5) vs. Ramiro Jimenez (144.5)
*fighter missed weight
