​  A common distress you’ll hear comedians talk about is the burden they assume to always be “on,” which is shorthand in that profession for “funny.” Sometimes Bill Burr just wants to go to the grocery store and conserve his mood, but the need to be funny, whenever he gets recognized, makes that simple task difficult.I thought about this when Josh Hokit showed up to the Lincoln Memorial during the UFC Freedom 250 press conference and played the role of a fidgety, insecure fighter resisting the urge to let out “The Hok.” It’s not a particularly funny shtick, nor all that clever. In fact, it’s the kind of thing that makes you exhausted just thinking about the efforts, this ongoing commitment to turn atmospheres awkward.When he said that night, “I think [Ilia] Topuria’s so mad, he’s so short he can’t see himself in the bathroom mirror … and he married a stripper from Miami,” there wasn’t as many laughs as there were groans. Dana White himself, unamused by Hokit’s stage persona, looked like he’d gotten a bad taco. If Hokit had been at the Apollo, they would have push-broomed him off the stage.Instead, Hokit vomited a little on the scales the next morning, while pretending to be unstable on his feet. Give him this, his dedication to the bit, funny or not, is impressive.Of course, we all know what happened after Hokit beat Derrick Lewis on the White House’s South Lawn. He couldn’t resist tossing out the “Michelle Obama is a man” line that he used back at LFA, which did away with all “Celebrating America’s 250th Birthday” etiquette. If people thought President Donald Trump having a UFC card at the White House on his 80th was in poor taste, Hokit performed a verbal wedgie to pound home the point.”I thought I was giving her a compliment,” he said during a 47-minute appearance on “The Ariel Helwani Show” on Tuesday. “Michelle Obama being a man, that’s like, she knows how to deal with adversity, she knows how to work hard like a man. When the times get tough, you know, the tough get going.”Hokit was not in character during his appearance on the show, but rather speaking as himself. Never mind that he doubled down on what he said at the White House with some subtle misogyny, which is itself some good, down-home vice signaling — he said he saw the moment as a wonderful opportunity to show the world an example of freedom of speech. We’ve heard that line a lot of late. At some point, somebody might verse him in the noble traditions of restraint, a thing that’s been lost since his personal forefathers — Colby Covington, Bryce Mitchell and Sean Strickland — began blowing past all lines of decency in their efforts to stand out.Hokit happily completes that dubious Mt. Rushmore of the UFC’s Most Obnoxious, and don’t think this is some kind of attack. This is exactly how he wants to be perceived, and this is his way of competing for our elusive attention.”Don’t hate the player, hate th      ​Read More