Josh Hokit seems determined to cause chaos at every UFC appearance, whether he is scheduled to fight or not. After being pulled from the dramatic UFC White House press conference for verbal attacks on Alex Pereira and a near-altercation with Ilia Topuria, the heavyweight contender managed to stir up another confrontation less than 24 hours later—this time with Paulo Costa at UFC 328.

And, unlike the White House presser, this beef appears to have money at its center. Costa had already made it clear he was furious after UFC 327, believing he deserved a $100,000 bonus for knocking out Azamat Murzakanov, which instead went to Hokit, who walked away with multiple rewards after his fight with Curtis Blaydes.

“I really think I deserved the bonus,” he told Ariel Helwani after the event. “That bonus is $100K. I don’t think Hokit deserved two bonuses. I feel like this is an injustice—unfair. It triggers the worst feelings in my mind and my heart.

“I’ve gone crazy. I want to smash. I texted them about it. I hope and trust that Dana (White) and Hunter (Campbell) are going to take care of me. They’re going to rethink it, because I think they made a mistake.”

But that’s not all, as right before UFC 328, he publicly warned Josh Hokit on social media.

“@JoshHokit I hear you are in the arena tonight,” he wrote on X. “Just remember one rule… Bring MA MONEY”

Hokit, staying true to character, fired back by bragging about his new UFC contract.

“I make more money than you with my new contract so 100k is no problem now, buddy 🫶,” he wrote back on X.

That exchange suddenly felt significantly less playful once video emerged of ‘The Eraser’ storming up to Josh Hokit at UFC 328, pointing in his face, and nearly causing a full-fledged brawl before security intervened.

What makes Hokit fascinating—and exhausting depending on who you ask—is that conflict seems to find him, or perhaps he finds it. In one weekend alone, he went from provoking Alex Pereira and Ilia Topuria on stage to nearly throwing hands with Paulo Costa in the crowd at UFC 328.

Yet, somehow, it all feeds into the same machine: attention. With a major battle against Derrick Lewis on the UFC White House card, the 28-year-old is making sure the emphasis never shifts elsewhere. After all, he is Donald Trump‘s new favorite fighter.

And now that he has added another angry Brazilian to his ever-growing list of enemies, he is beginning to look less like a fighter building a career and more like a storm that the UFC cannot stop promoting. In fact, they already got their backup fighter in case Lewis pulls out for some reason.

Paulo Costa had promised a move to heavyweight days before the scuffle at UFC 328

What makes the UFC 328 clash with Paulo Costa so interesting is that it may not end with a public confrontation. It may actually become a real fight. With Josh Hokit already scheduled to face Derrick Lewis on the UFC White House card, ‘The Eraser’ has openly offered himself as an emergency replacement if something goes wrong—and he is willing to move all the way up to heavyweight to make it happen.

This is not casual trash talk. Paulo Costa has already said he informed the UFC that if Lewis pulls out, he is ready to step in as a heavyweight.

“I just let ufc knows if Derek Lewis gets out his fight for some reason I will step in at White House as heavyweight,” he wrote on X. “No bulls—, ain’t lying.”

But for Costa, this is clearly about more than size. It is about unfinished business. It is about the extra money he says was unfairly awarded to the 28-year-old, the bitterness that followed UFC 327, and now a rivalry that has spilled over from social media into real-life conflict at UFC 328. And, from the UFC’s perspective, that is exactly the type of chaos that sells.

A White House card starring Donald Trump’s new favorite fighter is already a spectacle. Add in Costa—a furious, bonus-hunting wildcard prepared to change divisions for vengeance—and the promotion suddenly has something even more valuable than a backup plan: a built-in grudge match waiting in the wings. Whether Derrick Lewis pulls or not, Josh Hokit now has another shadow hovering over his biggest fight night yet.