Shannon Sharpe had plenty to say about the UFC card held at the White House on a recent episode of Nightcap. While he praised the event as a whole, his tone shifted when the conversation turned to what Josh Hoket did after his win over Derrick Lewis.
Sharpe got straight to the point when discussing the controversial post-bout interview.
“Josh Hoket won the biggest match of his career at the White House and decided to finish with an interview calling Michelle Obama a man,” he said.
He then explained how he first learned about the comment.
“I didn’t see it because I didn’t have any sound on,” Sharpe said. “But I was scrolling through Twitter and then I saw it. I was like, ‘He said that?’ It didn’t get the response that he hoped that it was going to get.”
From there, Sharpe pushed back against the idea that sports and politics should remain separate, especially given the venue where the event took place.
“I just want to make sure there’s a certain network that says athletes shouldn’t, you know, don’t bring sports into politics,” Sharpe said.
His co-host Chad ‘Ochocinco’ Johnson agreed, saying, “You can’t say that when you’re having a sporting event at a White House, which that intertwines politics and sports.”
When discussing Hoket’s apparent effort to build his profile, Ocho said he understood the goal but disagreed with the method.
“I like Josh Hokit. I understand what he’s trying to do,” Ocho said. “He trying to take the Conor McGregor route. He’s just going about it a little wrong in a sense.”
He then explained what he believes is the correct way to create a marketable persona.
“There’s a way to bring the entertainment value before the match,” Ocho said. “There’s a way to create that aura and that character that you’re trying to present, but then also be able to back it up in the Octagon. He’s picking the wrong way.”
Sharpe drew a distinction between targeting an opponent and making broader comments unrelated to the match.
“If you want to talk about an individual, fine. The guy that I’m competing,” Sharpe said. “But when you go outside and you try to take a jab at something, bro, come on, bro. You’re not that funny. You’re not that entertaining.”
He added that the joke failed to land with the audience.
“And nobody thought you were funny,” Sharpe continued. “All you did was perpetuate a racial stereotype that you’ve been saying for years.”
Sharpe also argued that similar attacks have been directed at prominent Black women for years.
“They said the same thing about Venus and Serena,” he said. “Every time a Black woman becomes something, some people from that side try to take a sh0t at her. It’s been going on. When is it going to be enough?”
He closed by praising Hoket’s performance while criticizing the comments that followed.
“He won the match. He beat Derrick Lewis,” Sharpe said. “I thought the extra stuff at the end was unnecessary.”
Sharpe then compared Hoket’s approach to that of Conor McGregor.
“Conor McGregor talks about the contender that he’s competing ,” he said. “He don’t go outside and try to take on some low hanging fruit because ain’t nothing that he said was entertaining.”
