Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
After Dan Hooker scored his third straight win Saturday night (Feb. 22) by defeating Paul Felder in what was a bloody back-and-forth brawl (see it again here) at UFC Fight Night 167 in Auckland, New Zealand, “Hangman” made sure not to waste his time on the mic.
Indeed, Hooker took the opportunity to call out No-4-ranked Justin Gaethje for a fight. “The Highlight,” though, hasn’t responded to the challenge, leading Hooker to believe that perhaps he may be a little too busy to even take the fight.
That’s why he has a backup plan, as Hooker took to Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show to call for a fight against former lightweight title contender, Dustin Poirier.
“If Gaethje is busy, then Poirier is the man,” he said. “Either Gaethje or Poirier, those are the only two options that make sense for me.”
This isn’t the first time Hooker has called for a showdown against “The Diamond,” as he took to the mic during his post-fight speech at UFC 243 to initially lay the gauntlet down. Poirier, though, was quick to shoot him down, saying he was holding out for a fight against Conor McGregor and stating that while Dan may be on a roll, he wasn’t up to his level.
That being said, Hooker has now won seven of his last eight, and his win over Felder should be enough to catapult him into the Top 5. Poirier and Gaethje, meanwhile, are sitting at No. 2 and No. 4, respectively.
The problem is, Hooker isn’t the only man who has his eyes set on Poirier, as Al Iaquinta recently challenged “The Diamond” to fisticuffs. Poirier, didn’t completely shoot him down, saying that he’d take the fight as long as it went down at welterweight and it came with a big bag of cash.
You know the players, so who do you want to see face each other next? We have our suggestions right here.