Josh Hokit (born November 12, 1997) is an American professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

who competes in the

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

division. He formerly competed in

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) was an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 by Bjorn Rebney and operated until 2025. The promotion takes its name from ''wikt:bellator, bellātor ...

. He formerly played

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

as a

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

and fullback in

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers 60 ba ...

and was signed by the 49ers as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

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

Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of th ...

. He grew up in Wasco, Ca before moving to Clovis, Ca. He attended Clovis High School, excelling in

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

. 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 typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

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 university, private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony Joseph Drexel, Anthony J. Drexel, a financier ...

, but changed his mind when he learned they didn't have a football team. Hokit walked-on at

Fresno State University California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers 60 ba ...

, and played in all 12 football games as a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially 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 in ...

. His role that year saw him play linebacker, fullback,

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)#Offense ...

, 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 ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, 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 school, post-secondary educatio ...

, 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. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s rushing, the ninth-most in the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

(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 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

championships. As a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

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, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. ...

. 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, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. It was founded in 1870 as Colorado Agr ...

. 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 ...

, Hokit was signed by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the 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 ...

as an

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

practice squad In gridiron football, 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. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

the next day. He was placed on the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

/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) NFC West, West division. The ...

, 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 Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California, United States Background The event marked the promotion's secon ...

. He won the fight via an arm-triangle submission in the third round. For his second professional bout, Hokit faced Sean Rose on September 7, 2024, at Bellator Champions Series 4. He won the fight via an armbar submission in the second round.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Eric Lunsford , TKO (punches) , LFA 208 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:00 ,

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish language, Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the largest city and the county seat of Santa Cruz County, California, Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Ezekiel Latu , Submission (rear-naked choke) , LFA 203 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:42 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , John Lopez , TKO (punches) , LFA 199 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:53 ,

Lemoore, California Lemoore (formerly La Tache and Lee Moore's) is a city in Kings County, California, United States. Lemoore is located west-southwest of Hanford, at an elevation of . It is part of the Hanford-Corcoran Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA Code 252 ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Sean Rose , Submission (armbar) , Bellator Champions Series 4 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:58 ,

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

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

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

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