The Career Resurgence Of Dan Hooker
One of the most entertaining lightweights in the UFC is gearing up to go to war at UFC 313 in little over a month.
Dan Hooker (24-12 MMA, 14-8 UFC), a fighter who at one point looked to be drifting out of the rankings at 155 lbs will take on former title challenger Justin Gaethje (25-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) in a five-round co-main event at Las Vegas’s T-Mobile Arena on March 8th.
Hooker enjoyed a purple patch in his career shortly after joining the UFC. Seven wins out of eight fights from 2017 to 2020 saw “The Hangman” making waves before a succession of defeats against Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler and Islam Makhachev halted his charge up the UFC rankings.
Return To The Lightweight Division For Dan Hooker
An ill-advised detour into the featherweight division (where he suffered defeat at the hands of Arnold Allen) ended as quickly as it began, and once Hooker made the move back up to 155 lbs, he found his groove quickly.
A body kick TKO over Claudio Puelles and a split decision win over Jalin Turner earned him a fight against a ranked contender in Mateusz Gamrot.
Dan Hooker emerged victorious after a wildly-entertaining battle with the Pole in which he managed to win the hearts and minds of the UFC fans all over again.
That memorable win landed him in sixth place in the lightweight rankings and also helped secure the matchup with Gaethje, who sits three places above him.
Dan Hooker: “They Want To See Blood”
“I just think the UFC wants to see someone die”, responded Dan Hooker when asked by Ariel Helwani this week if there is any particular reason this fight will be taking place over five rounds. “I think they want a finish.
“I feel like, for the fans as well, they want to see someone go down, they want to see blood, they want to see round four and five. I’m happy to oblige…for money!”
“If I was back (working) in the kitchen factory and I stayed an extra couple of hours, I’d expect another couple of extra bucks in my back pocket for it”.
“I’m not here for fun, I’m not here because I like you guys, I’m here (for) prizefighting brother!”
Dan Hooker on the Gaethje fight being 5 rounds:
"I think the UFC wants to see someone die… They wanna see someone go down. They wanna see blood. They wanna see rounds 4 and 5." pic.twitter.com/BR7bm3y5bu
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 27, 2025
Dan Hooker Gives His Thoughts On The Nurmagomedov Dynasty
As a renowned purveyor of bloody, entertaining fights, Dan Hooker is well-placed to give his opinion on last Saturday’s epic PFL main event between Usman Nurmagomedov and Paul Hughes.
While Nurmagomedov walked away with the win in Dubai, he took more damage than we have ever seen him take before in his career, and he acknowledged afterwards that Paul Hughes had dragged him through the toughest battle to date, something Hooker believes the Bellator champion should have kept to himself.
“I feel like Usman made a mistake when he got on the microphone and he admitted that he was…when have you ever seen one of the Dagestani boys get on the microphone and say that they were tired, they got hurt, they got pushed to their absolute breaking point?” said the Kiwi.
“We’ve seen them in tough fights before but we’ve never seen one of them get on the microphone and admit it. I think that was an error.”
Dan Hooker on Team Khabib
"The myth is bigger than the man… I feel like a mistake has been made… When have you ever seen one of the Dagestani boys get on the microphone and say that they were tired, they got hurt, they got pushed to their absolute breaking point?
[Usman… pic.twitter.com/gIbxEydytm
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 27, 2025
“All he had to do was do what the others do,” he said. “The myth that Khabib (Nurmagomedov) built and created and that Islam (Makhachev) and Khamzat (Chimaev) were able to carry on. All he had to do was get on the microphone and say, ‘Smesh…I’ll smesh anyone’…put the microphone down and walk off”.
“That team has done an incredible job of protecting that myth and keeping themselves with very impressive records and not looking compromised, and safe and fighting in a style (where) they don’t get dropped and they don’t get cut, they don’t get hurt. But yeah, I just feel like that was a mistake”.
