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After six long years competing inside the Octagon, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight contender Dan Hooker is perhaps one victory away from solidifying himself as a major player in the 155-pound title chase.
Standing in his way is No. 3-ranked contender Dustin Poirier, who battles “The Hangman” in the upcoming UFC on ESPN 12 lightweight main event, set to go down this Sat. night (June 27, 2020) inside UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Justin Gaethje, currently sitting in the top spot at 155 pounds, expects “The Diamond” to handily dispose of Hooker this weekend in “Sin City,” but “The Hangman” believes “The Highlight” is only making that pick to preserve his own legacy.
“If someone knocks you out, you obviously want them to do well and see them succeed because it makes you look better,” Hooker told Submission Radio. “Like, if I go out there and I knock Dustin Poirier out, then it makes Gaethje kind of look like a bum. So, of course Gaethje is going to hedge his bets against a guy that’s flatlined him.”
Gaethje, who is expected to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov for the lightweight title later this year, has just two losses inside the Octagon. One of them came against Poirier in the UFC on FOX 29 main event roughly two years back.
If Hooker does indeed prove victorious, then I wouldn’t be opposed to having “The Hangman” fight the winner of Gaethje vs. Nurmagomedov and putting Poirier into a rebound fight opposite lightweight “Boogeyman” Tony Ferguson.