Heavyweights are headed to the first UFC event of 2026.
Promotional sophomores Denzel Freeman and Josh Hokit will collide Jan. 24 at UFC 324 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the booking but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
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Freeman (7-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) signed with the UFC as the LFA heavyweight champion. A former prospective WWE talent, Freeman finished two regional fights in a row prior to his UFC debut, which was a lackluster unanimous decision win over Marek Buljo in November.
Hokit (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) won his promotional debut in November when he knocked out Max Gimenis in 58 seconds. The former San Francisco 49ers practice squad player was initially a Bellator prospect, who departed the promotion during the Bellator-PFL roster merger.
The current UFC 324 lineup includes:
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Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett – for interim lightweight title
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Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes – for women’s bantamweight title
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Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Derrick Lewis
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Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Umar Nurmagomedov
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Arnold Allen vs. Jean Silva
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Alexa Grasso vs. Rose Namajunas
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Modestas Bukauskas vs. Nikita Krylov
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Ateba Gautier vs. Andrey Pulayev
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Josh Hokit vs. Denzel Freeman
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Josh Hokit to fight former WWE prospect at UFC 324
