Derrick Lewis prepares for UFC White House bout against Josh Hokit

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NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - JULY 12: Derrick Lewis reacts after a knockout victory against Tallison Teixeira of Brazil in a heavyweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Bridgestone Arena on July 12, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC) Derrick Lewis isn’t bothered by Josh Hokit’s tomfoolery, he just wants to do Donald Trump proud. This weekend, Lewis takes on Hokit in an undercard fight at UFC White House. The bout was the last one added to the event, and done so at the request of United States President Donald Trump, who is a big fan of Lewis. But though it was the final fight put on the card, Hokit and Lewis had already stolen many of the headlines, thanks to Hokit’s outlandish antics at the UFC White House press conference. But as a longtime veteran of the fight game, that doesn’t bother Lewis. “I really don’t care,” Lewis said of Hokit’s outburts during the UFC White House press conference. “I believe that guys do stuff like that just because it ain’t nothing else we can go after. Because he don’t know me and I don’t know him. “So, I believe that he just says and does things like that just to get under someone’s skin that he don’t know. We’re about to go fist to ass in a few weeks, so it’s like, you’ve got to try to find some type of motivation.” “I don’t care about all the shit-talking,” Lewis added. “I’ve been doing this long enough to know that guys can say whatever. Say whatever, it don’t matter. We get asked these questions all the time, so sometimes guys don’t know what to say, so they just say whatever. That’s how I do it.” What Lewis does care about is his performance this weekend. Lewis had a terrible outing in his most recent fight, losing by TKO to Waldo Cortes-Acosta in January at UFC 324. Lewis blamed his dreadful performance on a back injury, which he says is now cleared up. And he’s entering this fight with something to prove. “It all depends on how I knock this guy out. I believe I can,” Lewis said. “He gets hit a lot. I believe he can’t really take the type of stuff that I’m willing to give out. It’s cliché, I don’t want to sound like a cliché, but this is really the best shape I’ve ever been in. Conditioning wise, everything. I want to really perform. “Especially, I don’t want to make the President look bad. I want to go out there and perform. Show everybody the reason why I’m one of his favorite fighters.” Lewis currently holds the record for most knockouts in UFC history at 16. He also holds the unofficial record for most times a fighter has taken his pants off in the octagon, as that has become a bit of a staple of Lewis’ post-win celebration. But while he intends to add to his KO record, “The Black Beast” says the nature of competing at the White House means his unofficial record will not be extended this weekend. “I’m going to be more professional, so I’m just going to throw my cup in the audience,” Lewis said. “No pants.”