Dan Hooker has said he wants to ‘snake that McGregor fight’ off Michael Chandler, and he makes a compelling argument as to why he deserves it more.
Dan Hooker is living large after defeating Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 305, and he wants to follow that upset victory up by stepping in to fight Conor McGregor when “The Notorious” returns.
Hooker called out McGregor in the cage following his split decision win, and he doesn’t really care about what happens to McGregor’s current opponent, Michael Chandler, who has been on red panty watch for two years now.
“I feel like it’s a smart option,” Hooker told Submission Radio. “You’re going to fight a guy in the top five on a on a three fight win streak? Or are you going to fight a guy who’s not in the top five and coming off a loss?”
“I’ve been staying active and I’ve been fighting the best guys in the world. It just is what it is. [McGregor] has more to gain from fighting me than he does from Chandler.”
With his win over Gamrot, “The Hangman” surged six positions up to No. 5 in the lightweight rankings, one above No. 6 ranked Chandler.
“My next fight is going to be a title eliminator,” Hooker declared. “That’s what my next fight is going to be. So if he wants, if he genuinely wants to get back in the mix and genuinely wants to earn his way back to a world title, it makes a lot of sense.”
We doubt the UFC would do Michael Chandler dirty at this point, especially after they devoted an entire season of The Ultimate Fighter on ESPN to the match-up. But if Chandler were to get injured? Well then, the UFC has someone ready and willing to step in at a moment’s notice.