Dan Hooker has stood by the comments he directed at Jon Jones, and suggested those who defend the former UFC light heavyweight champion are “f”cking idiots.”
In one of the more unlikely social media feuds in recent times, Hooker, a UFC veteran who will be returning to featherweight from lightweight at UFC London on March 19, took aim at the recent discretions of two-time 205-pound king and GOAT contender Jones.
During his ongoing period of inactivity, which came after he vacated the light heavyweight title to pursue a move up to heavyweight, Jones found himself in the headlines for all the wrong reasons yet again. Just hours after being inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame Fight Wing last September, “Bones” was arrested for battery domestic violence.
In the days and weeks that followed, a host of names and personalities, including Anthony Smith, Daniel Cormier, Chael Sonnen, and Brendan Schaub publicly spoke out about Jones’ latest run-in with the law. In December, it was “The Hangman” who took aim.
After Jones appeared to mock Chael Sonnen’s December arrest and compared it to his own, Hooker defended the former two-division UFC title challenger and, in doing so, slammed Jones’ September incident.
In response to Hooker’s remarks, Jones suggested the New Zealander was only getting vocal because he was jealous of the former light heavyweight titleholder’s success.
“@danthehangman, every opportunity you’ve had to make a name for yourself and be closer to your boy Izzy, you dropped the ball. You can’t achieve greatness, so you hop online and attack someone who has. Sounds about right.”
Not one to back down, Hooker turned the attention back to Jones’ domestic violence charge.
Hooker: “I Said What I Said & I Stand By It”
After going back-and-forth with Jones on social media, Hooker appeared to have the last laugh after “Bones” deleted his post. Now, in an interview with John Hyon Ko for The AllStar, “The Hangman” has looked back on his interaction with his UFC peer.
Hooker’s takeaway from the incident? Don’t come for him when he’s at least two beers deep on Christmas Day.
“It is what it is. It’s the internet. Brendan Schaub was right, he’s not wrong. I feel like he (Jones) definitely didn’t receive a lot of criticism for the things he’s definitely done,” said Hooker. “But it wasn’t really until he bit back at me… I didn’t tag him in it or anything like that, then he decides Christmas Day to tag me in. Dan Hangman was drinking some beers on Christmas Day. It’s a bad day to come at me on Twitter. If I’ve had a couple beers, it’s a bad day to come at me because I’m gonna shoot back, and I’m not gonna bite my tongue as most people would.”
Ultimately, Hooker said he completely stands by his words, and while an official fight with Jones wouldn’t make sense, the fan-favorite New Zealander says he’d be open to a car park scrap if Jones still harbors ill will towards him, something he’d never back down from after criticizing someone publicly.
“I said what I said and I stand by it. I would never say anything about someone or to someone and not give them the opportunity to not punch me in the face,” added Hooker. “Do I have any kind of malice or ill will towards Jon Jones? Definitely not, I don’t spend any time thinking about Jon Jones, I couldn’t care less about Jon Jones. Would we have a fight? No, the fight would never make sense. Would I fight him in the car park? If he had a problem with me, of course, I would oblige.
“I would never insult someone and not give them the opportunity to punch me in the face. That’s an entirely different discussion. But do I have any ill will towards Jon Jones? Nah, definitely not.”
Discussing how the exchange came about, Hooker said he was compelled to defend his “mentor” and “good guy” Sonnen after Jones attempted to group the retired fighter’s arrest, which seemingly came after he attempted to defend his wife, with his domestic violence charge.
“I don’t know too much about Jon Jones, you can only see what he’s done… It was more that Chael Sonnen’s my guy. That’s my guy. I view Chael as a mentor… He’s a good dude, he’s a great guy,” Hooker continued. “As Brendan Schaub said, those are two entirely different situations, and the way that Jon tried to portray it with Chael was that they were similar. He goes out his way to share the thing of Chael getting arrested.
“He’s trying to compare them but, there’s like, a definite line. To me, defending your wife from people insulting her is one of the most honorable things you could possibly do. And then to put hands on your wife is one of the most terrible things. This is just my viewpoint.”
In Hooker’s mind, the sides of the coin are simple; either you’re against domestic violence in all forms or you think it’s fine as long as the attacker is good at a sport. For “The Hangman,” those who follow the latter mindset are “f*cking idiots.”
“As far as I’m concerned from what I said, there’s like, only two arguments. that come to it, it’s people that think it’s not okay to physically abuse your spouse, and then the other side of it is people that think it’s okay if you’re really good at a sport. Those people are, excuse my French, those people are f*cking idiots, like, those people are just young and immature and not up to scratch. It’s just not okay… There’s no possible way you could convince me there’s any kind of exception,” concluded Hooker.
With his social media fight versus Jones now behind him, Hooker will turn his attention to his return to the Octagon. He’ll hope to push back towards contention when he moves down to 145 pounds to face Arnold Allen.
While his toughness and willingness to trade blows inside the cage have always been clear, the New Zealand brawler is evidently not afraid to bite back at his fellow fighters on Twitter when he thinks they’re in the wrong.
Do you agree with Dan Hooker’s take?
Continue Reading Dan Hooker: People Defending Jon Jones Are F*cking Idiots at MMA News.