Dan Hooker wants to be the one to give Michael Chandler his welcome in the UFC.
Chandler was recently signed by the UFC and will serve as the backup for the UFC 254 main event that features a lightweight title unification fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje.
It’s certainly a big statement from the UFC on how they feel about the former Bellator lightweight champion and now that Hooker knows how the promotion views him, he is more than willing to fight Chandler first.
“Well, it was hard when people were speculating it and saying about the fight, it’s hard to know how much stock the UFC is putting into someone that’s coming from another organization,” Hooker told Submission Radio of his thoughts on Chandler. “But for him to now be signed to the organization and being the fill-in for the title shot, now I know.
“Now I’m certain of how much stock [they’re putting in]. The UFC is putting a lot of stock in on this kid. So, I would love to be the guy to welcomes him to the UFC, knees his chin off, sends him back to the B-Leagues.”
Hooker: We’re On A Different Level
That’s not to say Hooker doesn’t rate Chandler as a fighter.
However, he believes Chandler is not on the same level as the truly elite fighters in the UFC lightweight division.
“He’s good, he’s game, he’s a quality fighter,” Hooker added. “That’s not any knock on his skill or any knock on his ability, but I feel like we’re just a different calibre. He’s just gonna be welcomed to a different calibre of fighter.”
You can watch the full interview below:
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