Josh Hokit (born November 12, 1997) is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

division of

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) is an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 and based in Santa Monica, California, owned and operated as a subsidiary of television and media cong ...

. He formely played

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

as a

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

and

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at Fresno State and was signed by the 49ers as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in . He also was a wrestler in college, and earned All-America honors.

Early life and education

Hokit was born on November 12, 1997, in Clovis, California. He attended Clovis High School, excelling in

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. As a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

in wrestling, he peaked at number three in the nation. In football that year, Hokit recorded 125 tackles as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

and also rushed for 820 yards with eight touchdowns on offense. He originally accepted a wrestling scholarship to

Drexel University Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a financier and philanthropist. Founded as Drexel Institute of Art, S ...

, but changed his mind when he learned they didn't have a football team. Hokit walked-on at Fresno State University, and played in all 12 football games as a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

. His role that year saw him play linebacker,

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

, and on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

. He made seven tackles on the season, and his best game against

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, where he rushed for 97 yards on 18 carries. As a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

, Hokit appeared in all 14 games and started four. He ranked second on the roster with 583 rushing yards, coming on 128 attempts. He also scored seven

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s rushing, the ninth-most in the Mountain West Conference (MWC). In the season opener, he threw a 65-yard touchdown pass to Jared Rice. After the football season ended, Hokit returned to wrestling, placing fifth in the Big 12 championships. As a junior in 2018, Hokit appeared in 13 of 14 games, making one start. Rushing, he made 260 yards on 73 carries. He scored his lone touchdown of the season against

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...

. He also recorded eight catches for 56 yards, a long of 22. In wrestling, he led the team with 27 wins, and became their first All-America selection since Mario Botelho in 2003. As a senior in 2019, Hokit played in 12 games, making one start in their matchup with

Colorado State Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

. He placed fourth on the roster with 287 rushing yards, and second on the team with nine rushing touchdowns. He also recorded 97 receiving yards and one touchdown on 17 catches. He was team captain for the final four games of the year. As a senior in wrestling, he finished the year being named by the NWCA as a second-team All-America selection, after leading Fresno with 24 wins.

Professional career

San Francisco 49ers

After going unselected in the

2020 NFL Draft The 2020 NFL Draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The d ...

, Hokit was signed by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

as an

. He was waived at the final roster cuts but re-signed to the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

the next day. He was placed on the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

/reserve list on December 23, and activated on December 28. Hokit was signed to a futures contract on January 4, 2021. He was waived at the 2021 final roster cuts but re-signed to the practice squad the next day. He was placed on the reserve-COVID-19 list on January 11, 2022. He signed a reserve/future contract with the 49ers on February 2, 2022. He was waived on August 15, 2022.

Arizona Cardinals

On August 18, 2022, Hokit signed with the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

, but was waived five days later.

Mixed martial arts career

Bellator MMA

On March 1, 2023, it was announced that Hokit had signed with

to start his MMA career. Hokit made his debut against Spencer Smith on October 7, 2023 at

Bellator 300 ''Bellator 300: Nurmagomedov vs. Primus'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA, that took place on October 7, 2023, at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California, United States Background The event marked the promotion's s ...

. He won the fight via an arm-triangle submission in the third round.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Spencer Smith , Submission (arm-triangle choke) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:48 ,

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

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