UFC fighter Josh Hokit made a controversial comment about former first lady Michelle Obama after his victory at the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House.
“Michelle Obama is a man. Am I right, America?” Hokit, 28, shockingly declared on Sunday, June 14, in a post-fight interview with Joe Rogan after defeating fellow heavyweight Derrick Lewis.
Us Weekly has reached out to Obama’s representatives for comment.
Sunday’s event to mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. took place on the front lawn of the White House. President Donald Trump was among the spectators in attendance.
The fight card was met with some controversy in the weeks before Sunday’s event.
UFC commentator and podcaster Rogan, 58, previously said of the event: “The White House thing is odd. I don’t like it.”
“I don’t like the idea of fighting outside at all,” he said during a May episode of his “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, citing concerns about the weather.
“I just don’t think you should compete in a world championship fight in a non-controlled environment. It should be inside an air-conditioned arena,” Rogan said. “You wouldn’t ask them to play a world championship basketball game outside in the sun. That would be crazy, right? You play in a f***ing air-conditioned arena, and that’s how it should be.”
He added, “Build a f***ing roof! Build a roof. Like, you’ve got all the money in the world, right? You want to do this for f***ing America? Build a 4,000-seat arena. Get a f***ing barndominium.”
Rogan also criticized the event taking place amid the war in Iran.
“It sounds crazy. I know it’s going to be very high security and high stress and weird to have a fight at the White House in the middle of a f*** war,” he said. “I’m going to be there. Allegedly. If there’s not a bomb that goes off between now and then. Who f***ing knows? The world is crazy.”
Country music star Zac Brown, meanwhile, defended his decision to perform at the event.
“Man, I’m there for the troops, man. I’m there to honor America,” Brown, 47, said during an appearance on the Wednesday, June 10, edition of The Pat McAfee Show. “This is patriotism, not politics for me.”
“I mean, f*** all the division. I don’t believe in that,” Brown said. “I love this country. I love all the people that have sacrificed so that I can live my American dream and that everyone that lives here gets a chance to do that if they work hard and make the right decisions. So it doesn’t have a place in politics for me.”
