Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) Lightweight division has seen a contender resurgence for New Zealand’s favorite “Hangman,” Dan Hooker.
Hooker, 34, went through a serious rough patch from 2020 to 2023, going 3-4 in his seven fights with the middle five resulting in a 1-4 record (24-12). The momentum has now completely shifted as Hooker is back on a strong winning streak of three fights after his split decision nod over Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 305 this past weekend (Aug. 17, 2024).
Before the return to action, Hooker was calling for a fight against the former champion, Charles Oliveira. After this recent win, that is the desire from the promotion, according to the fan-favorite slugger. Although, if Hooker had his way, he’d go with the No. 1-ranked contender.
“Yeah, they want Charles,” Hooker told The Mac Life. “It’s a good fight but there’s heaps of cool sh*t I could do. The lay of the land is pretty crazy and it’s such a wild sport so we’ll see how it plays out.
“I couldn’t care less, [I want to fight] all of them, bro — even Arman [Tsarukyan],” he continued. “I said to [UFC CBO] Hunter [Campbell], I said to [UFC Matchmaker] Sean [Shelby] that I’d like to fight Arman because screw it. We’ll go the toughest way to the title that we possibly can and that’s [Jalin] Turner, Gamrot, Arman, Islam [Makhachev] — I just don’t care, brother. I would prefer the hardest road to the title that I possibly could.”
Tsarukyan has made it clear he isn’t going to fight unless his next is for the title like he was promised after his split decision win over Oliveira at UFC 300 in April 2024. Ultimately, Hooker hopes to fight once more before 2025 and likely won’t root for Tsarukyan anytime soon.
“I said I hate the prick; I told Hunter, ‘I’m going to smash his face in and that I hate the dog,’” Hooker said. “He’s just a prick, he’s been talking sh*t for years, bro. There’s not much more to it.”
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