Dan Hooker recently made it clear that he has no intention of facing Rafael Fiziev. “The Hangman” is riding high after a closely contested split decision victory over the highly regarded Mateusz Gamrot on the main card of UFC 305 in Perth last month. This win has propelled Hooker back onto a three-fight win streak, […]
Hooker’s recent success has caught the attention of Fiziev, who, earlier this month, threw down the gauntlet on X by challenging the 34-year-old Kiwi. Fiziev even dubbed the potential matchup a “Fight of the Year contender.”
If me and Mr. Tattoo @danthehangman step into the octagon, I guarantee it’ll be an easy Fight of the Year contender
However, “Ataman’s” ambitions seem to have been tossed into a cold bag by Hooker, who has expressed that he’s no longer interested in the bout…
Hooker Puts Fiziev’s Form Behind Reluctance To Accept The Bout
During a recent interview with ENGAGE, Hooker addressed Fiziev’s fight callout, revealing that he’s not keen on facing the 31-year-old Azerbaijani due to his recent string of losses.
“The Hangman” further explained that he had initially called out “Ataman” for a bout at UFC 305 but Fiziev’s request for more time meant that the opportunity has now passed.
Hooker is now aiming to fight within the top five.
“I don’t want to fight him. I’m not excited for that fight,” Hooker said. “The guy’s coming off two losses. He’s sitting on the shelf. I called him out for the Perth card; I asked him if he wanted to fight on Perth, but he wasn’t ready. Now he’s ready, but that ship has long sailed, mate. That fight does not excite me;. Obviously, it excites him, but I have absolutely nothing to gain from that fight.”
Meanwhile, Fiziev has been on the sidelines for a year following a severe knee injury sustained during his bout against Gamrot in the headliner of a UFC Fight Night event in September 2023.
Prior to that setback, “Ataman” experienced a hard-fought majority decision loss to Gaethje at UFC 286 in March of that yae. This defeat ended his impressive five-fight win streak, a run that featured pivotal victories over Rafael dos Anjos, Kevin Lee, and Renato Moicano.
It has been a long journey full of ups and downs for Dan Hooker to work his back into the top five of the lightweight division. After defeating Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 305, he’s riding a three-fight winning streak which has seen him bounce back from consecutive losses. Hooker, at one stage, had just one […]
Hooker, at one stage, had just one win in his last five Octagon outings and that came after he made it into the top five for the first time in his career. And in his opinion, that skid was caused by a few crucial mistakes he made.
He has learned a lot in this four-year-period and is now confident that he won’t make the same mistakes that he did last time.
Dan Hooker Says That Fighting Michael Chandler At UFC 257 Was A Mistake On His Part
Hooker is now seemingly on the verge of what could be a title eliminator against the likes of Charles Oliveira or Justin Gaethje.
Though he took big fights against Dustin Poirier and the debuting Michael Chandler the last time he was in this position, he believes that the latter in particular was a mistake.
“Iron” Mike would hit the ground running in the promotion by stopping the Kiwi fighter in the opening round in Abu Dhabi.
The major issue with taking this fight is that it took place during the COVID-19 pandemic where New Zealand had very strict regulations, which compromised his preparations.
Having admitted in an interview with ESPN Australia that he has a whole new level of respect for the team around him, Hooker said that he has learned from the missteps that he has made in his career and isn’t going to waste this opportunity.
“I kind of have learnt that from my first rodeo, is to just kind of not do anything dumb this time around. I mean the last time I was number five, I agreed to fight Michael Chandler. Gave Michael Chandler a shot, it was his first fight in the UFC, I flew to Abu Dhabi so other side of the world with absolutely no coaches and went and fought him with a guy I’d been training for six months in my corner. so it was not the smartest of decisions so I guess this time around, I’m just not gonna do anything dumb or sell my title shot again.”
City Kickboxing staple, Dan Hooker is set for his next Octagon outing on March 4. – drawing surging lightweight finisher, Jalin Turner at UFC 285 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hooker, the current #11 ranked lightweight contender, featured most recently at UFC 281 back in November of last year, stopping Claudio Puelles […]
City Kickboxing staple, Dan Hooker is set for his next Octagon outing on March 4. – drawing surging lightweight finisher, Jalin Turner at UFC 285 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Hooker, the current #11 ranked lightweight contender, featured most recently at UFC 281 back in November of last year, stopping Claudio Puelles with a series of body kicks to secure an eventual second round TKO victory.
Jalin Turner announces his expected clash with Dan Hooker at UFC 285
As for Turner, the #10 ranked challenger managed to most recently hand Dan Hooker’s City Kickboxing teammate, Brad Riddell a dominant first round guillotine choke in just 45-seconds back in July at UFC 276. The victory earned Turner a Performance of the Night bonus. News of Hooker’s return against Turner was first noted during an interview with the latter on Inside Fighting.
2-4 in his last six Octagon appearances, Hooker has landed wins over the aforenoted, Puelles, and Nasrat Haqparast, suffering defeats at lightweight and featherweight to Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler, Islam Makhachev, and Arnold Allen.
22-12 as a professional, Hooker has secured UFC victories over the likes of Jim Miller, Gilbert Burns, Al Iaquinta, and Paul Felder to name a few.
For Turner, the surging lightweight contender landed his stunning fifth consecutive victory with his submission win over Riddell back in July of last year, adding to prior successes over Jamie Mullarkey, Uros Medic, Brok Weaver, and Joshua Cuilbao during that run.
A product of Dana White’s Contender Series, Turner’s sole promotional losses have come against Vicente Luque, and Matt Frevola.
UFC 285 takes place on March 4. from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada – with a vacant heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones, and Ciryl Gane slated to take main event honors.
Apparently beating a top five contender doesn’t warrant a place inside the top five… That’s according to former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen, who has been reflecting on the events that unfolded at this past weekend’s pay-per-view event at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. Among the biggest winners to emerge from UFC 305 was […]
Among the biggest winners to emerge from UFC 305 was Dan Hooker, a lightweight fan favorite who enjoyed a difficult fall from grace during the pandemic. In more recent years, however, “The Hangman” has returned to winning ways in style.
And after defending his place in the rankings opposite Claudio Puelles in late 2022 before making a statement in victory over the highly regarded Jalin Turner in 2023, Hooker’s first outing of this year saw him leap back into the title conversation.
While that didn’t come as a surprise to many, Sonnen was shocked. And he sees it as a mistake on the part of the rankings panel…
Sonnen Questions Hooker’s High Place In UFC Lightweight Top 15
During a video recently uploaded to his YouTube channel, Sonnen reflected on Hooker’s triumph Down Under this past weekend and commented on talk of him sharing the cage with Charles Oliveira next.
At one point, “The American Gangster” noted “The Hangman’s” recent surge up the pecking order at 155 pounds, expressing surprise and disagreement with Hooker being granted a place inside the top five.
“I owe an apology. … It was stated from Conner Burks, ‘Tatted Dan Hooker is undefeated and about to be ranked in the top five.’ I wrote back and said, ‘Well, you’re half right.’ … I have to apologize to Conner,” Sonnen said. “Hooker got ranked in the top five. That should not have happened.
“I’m surprised that that happened. We don’t know who that rankings committee is, but I think we can comfortably understand that Conner is one of them, they spoke, and that’s how they did it,” Sonnen jokingly added.
Regardless, Hooker is indeed now a top five contender on MMA’s biggest stage, and he’ll look to ride that momentum all the way into a first title shot down the line.
He wants it ALL! @DanTheHangman is talkin' his talk after beating Mateusz Gamrot at #UFC305!
One of the clear highlights of the UFC 305 pay-per-view this past weekend was the lightweight contest between Mateusz Gamrot and Dan Hooker. Given Gamrot’s position in the division and recent wins, many expected him to get this victory to take one more step closer to a title shot. However, “The Hangman” had other plans. […]
One of the clear highlights of the UFC 305 pay-per-view this past weekend was the lightweight contest between Mateusz Gamrot and Dan Hooker.
Given Gamrot’s position in the division and recent wins, many expected him to get this victory to take one more step closer to a title shot. However, “The Hangman” had other plans.
He gave his live reaction to the fight on his YouTube channel, where before the first bell sounded, he teed up the idea of meeting either man down the line.
“I could end up fighting one of these couldn’t I?”
Paddy Pimblett Agreed With Decision, Tees Up Dan Hooker Encounter In The Future
Like many, Pimblett agreed that Gamrot was the favorite going in. He did, however, make a point of stating that Hooker shouldn’t have been such a big underdog due to the caliber of opponents he has faced.
“The Baddy” wasn’t surprised to see “Gamer” get takedowns, but over the course of the fight, he watched as “The Hangman” kept pouring on the pressure with his forward momentum.
The fight was a close one, which the scorecards and Pimblett’s reaction seconded. But the former Cage Warriors champion did agree that Hooker did enough to get his hand raised.
While there may be 10 ranking spots between them, “The Baddy” would be open to testing himself against the fan favorite in the future.
“Fight of the night so far of what I’ve watched. Let’s see the decision anyway. I reckon Hooker, lad, to be honest. 29-28 Gamrot. 29-28 Hooker, upset, Dan Hooker back in the top five,” Pimblett said. “Could be a nice fight for me in the future.”
On Saturday night, the mixed martial arts leader returned for its latest pay-per-view event, UFC 305. For the first time this year, the UFC was Down Under this week, where Perth’s RAC Arena played host to the promotion’s latest Australian show. And the promotion brought with it across the globe a notable lineup that included a title […]
On Saturday night, the mixed martial arts leader returned for its latest pay-per-view event, UFC 305.
For the first time this year, the UFC was Down Under this week, where Perth’s RAC Arena played host to the promotion’s latest Australian show. And the promotion brought with it across the globe a notable lineup that included a title fight and a host of intriguing undercard scraps.
The championship clash at the top of the billing saw Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya’s heated feud finally reach the the Octagon, with the South African’s middleweight belt on the line seven months on from his crowning at the expense of Sean Strickland in “The Great White North.”
Elsewhere, former flyweight title challengers Kai Kara-France and Steve Erceg looked to stake their claims for a second shot at UFC gold in the co-main event, while Oceanic fan favorites Dan Hooker and Tai Tuivasa also hoped to deliver standout triumphs on the main card.
But did all those names come together to put on an entertaining night of fights? Let’s find out with all the positives and negatives from UFC 305.
Jesus Aguilar has two hobbies (among other things, I’m sure. Perhaps he’s partial to some ballroom dancing. Who knows?) — fighting Australians and locking in guillotine chokes. Combining them must have been like Christmas at UFC 305.
The Mexican entered the cage as an underdog for the first fight of the night in Perth, which many expected to be a coming out party for Australia’s newest hot prospect, the previously undefeated Stewart Nicoll.
But the 29-year-old fell to the same fate as his fellow countryman Shannon Ross did at UFC 290 in July 2023 — being left unconscious in the very first round.
In Las Vegas last year, Ross was absolutely obliterated on the feet by Aguilar in just 17 seconds in one of 2023’s most brutal knockouts. Nicoll’s demise came on the ground when he had his strong start rendered null after getting caught in Aguilar’s favorite submission move. The Mexican was, indeed, not silly. When the opportunity presented itself, he jumped the gilly and put Nicoll out — not that anybody bar Aguilar actually noticed.
That left a scary visual of the Aussie wide-eyed as his sleeping body fell back. On another note, could the referee not have maybe caught his head as it thundered onto the canvas? It feels like we regularly see superhero saves from officials in Muay Thai fights over in Asia, but on this occasion, it looked like the ref practically dodged Nicoll’s head.
Regardless, the finish was incredibly impressive from Aguilar, who now has five guillotines out of his six fight-ending chokes.
Accept a bout with Aguilar at your peril, Australian flyweights!
Negative – What One Burns Can Do, The Other Burns… Well, Can’t
With the watering down of the UFC product, there’s been quite a few instances of fighters entering the cage this year who simply aren’t of a sufficient quality to be competing on the sport’s biggest stage.
Herbert Burns, however, is a veteran of that group.
It’s fascinating to watch back Burns’ knockout of Nate Landwehr in 2020. I try not to buy into ‘fluke’ narratives, but that is a compelling one. Since then, the Brazilian has lost four straight by TKO, two of which have been the same type of retirement.
Against both Bill Algeo in 2022 and Jack Jenkins on Saturday night, “The Blaze” — an apt moniker for someone whose UFC career has gone up in smoke — responded to adversity by attempting to pull guard and collapsing to his back when desperation takedowns failed.
After a while of doing so in both instances, Keith Peterson and Marc Goddard waved the bouts off. With the memory of the Algeo fight growing ever clearer as Burns’ UFC 305 bout played out, I remarked to colleagues, “He’ll do it (fall to his back) enough times until Goddard stops it.” Like clockwork.
You know it’s bad when your brother’s own podcast is flaming you on social media, before hastily deleting…
Of course, credit has to go to Jenkins for his performance on home soil. Regardless of the opposition level, “Phar” looked on it in the striking realm. But his crisp boxing wasn’t enough to override the negative that is Burns’ latest disastrous display inside the Octagon.
Negative – A Mess
Well, the UFC 305 featured prelim when swimmingly, didn’t it?
The fight’s conclusion came after the Brazilian clutched onto his Aussie counterpart’s leg and locked in a heel hook. Things suddenly came to an end, with replays showing that Tafa had yelled out in pain. That stoppage ended up being controversial, not because it was wrong, but because the sport’s leading promotion employs commentators who don’t know the ruleset of what they’re tasked with describing to a global audience.
It’s remarkable to say, but we had two legendary former champions, Daniel Cormier and Dominick Cruz, questioning the third man inside the cage. The latter — who never shies away from using his agenda against Keith Peterson to slam referees — even went as far as to group the moment with instances of fighters having their chance to compete cruelly taken away.
Guys…Read. The. Rules.
Verbal tap out: When a contestant verbally announces to the referee that he or she does not wish to continue or makes audible sounds such as screams indicating pain or discomfort.
The fact we had to sit through five minutes of doubting the referee’s decision before texts from those better informed arrived to save the day is yet further evidence as to why Laura Sanko needs to be a permanent fixture on the commentary desk.
#UFC305 Official Result: Valter Walker defeats Junior Tafa by Technical Submission at 4:56 in Round 1.
An unhappy Tafa responded by butting heads with Walker before slapping him. The UFC has been pretty inconsistent when it comes with dealing with similar instances — Khabib Nurmagomedov continued his title reign post-instigating the UFC 229 brawl, while Paul Daley was cut and forever ousted from the promotion for his sucker punch against Josh Koscheck at UFC 113.
What happens next in the career of Tafa remains to be seen, but a release shouldn’t be out of the question.
Positive – Nightmare? I’ll Say
The welterweight division always seems to have one major prospect establishing himself as one to watch, with recent years seeing Shavkat Rakhmonov and Ian Garry following successful arrivals with climbs into title contention.
All signs point toward Carlos Prates joining them soon enough.
There aren’t enough superlatives to do justice to the Brazilian’s performance. He became the first man to knock out Li Jingliang, but his display was by no means defined by a sudden fight-ending sequence. Prates frankly beat “The Leech” up for the best part of nine minutes.
That’s evidently what it was going to take to get the returning Chinese fighter out of there — soften up what’s long been an iron chin with knockdown after knockdown, before uncorking one of the most clubbing hooks in recent memory to finish the job.
Add Prates to the list of, “Oh, he’s on the card? Hell yeah,” fighters in the UFC.
Considering I’m often leaping to the defense of judges, who frequently come under fire from individuals with no concept of how mixed martial arts fights are scored, it feels good to be able to grab a pitchfork this time around.
“Bigi Boy” was clinical with his performance, piecing Tuivasa up while avoiding virtually all of the home favorite’s power shots. Judge Howie Booth, however, must have gotten the red and blue corners confused because it’s hard to see any other explanation for his work at UFC 305.
Thankfully, he was relieved from his duties for the rest of the night (not that it mattered anyway given how the co-main event finished…more on that soon). But, to be honest, that scorecard is so bad that Howie probably shouldn’t be with scorecard in hand ever again.
Even hours later, I’m still trying to recall a scorecard that even comes close. Chris Lee’s 48-47 in favor of Paul Felder over Rafael dos Anjos, perhaps?
It’s 2024 and Dan Hooker is in the lightweight top five (or at least should be come next week’s update). Redemption arcs don’t come much better than that.
Hooker entered the cage at UFC 305 with an almighty task ahead of him, getting his wish to feature on the card granted in the form of a showdown with the highly regarded Mateusz Gamrot. Be it odds, fans, or analysts, basically every metric had “The Hangman” falling short to the smothering grappling of “Gamer.”
Round one saw both men exchange knockdowns, before the second frame was more a tail of the Polish fighter’s control versus Hooker’s strikes while defending Gamrot’s wrestling. And the concluding stanza was just a war that can be summed up by two-and-a-half minutes of striking success each.
Judge that.
Two cageside scorers ultimately leant the way of “The Hangman,” and with that he’s rendered the 1-4 run he entered UFC 281 in 2022 riding a distance memory. And with three straight wins and a triumph over a name like Gamrot, he is well and truly back in the mix.
If Dustin Poirier is looking for one last hurrah…rematch, anyone?
He wants it ALL! @DanTheHangman is talkin' his talk after beating Mateusz Gamrot at #UFC305!
Speaking of underdogs who made a mockery of their betting lines…
Steve Erceg was perhaps one or two ill-advised takedowns away from a shock title win in Brazil this past May. And his efforts left many heavily favoring him to bounce back at the expense of the returning Kai Kara-France at UFC 305.
But in the words of the New Zealander’s teammate Israel Adesanya, “Y’all must have forgot.”
With Kai Asakura’s signing and Kara-France’s emphatic performance on Saturday night, Alexandre Pantoja isn’t short on possible challenges. And with that, the flyweight division remains among the most exciting, and one in which you absolutely should not blink.
it always seemed unlikely that the UFC 305 main event would disappoint. It was just always going to deliver, wasn’t it? But even so, what we got in Perth was special.
Add in a bit of a feud, the story of Adesanya’s return, and Du Plessis’ continued habit of proving his sizable group of doubters wrong, and you’ve got all the ingredients for a Fight of the Year contender.
Through three rounds, I had the champ leading 29-28, but that was by no means a clear and easy score. As has been the case with the South African in the past, the tale was his power shorts versus his opponents’ volume. In the end, after that had already put him up on the scorecards, “Stillknocks” connected hard in a fourth frame that had been all Adesanya, eventually putting him down and locking in a rear-naked choke.
The positives here are all around, from the entertaining nature of the fight to the pair’s respectful exchange in the Octagon in the aftermath to Adesanya’s humble approach to another setback.
Du Plessis, of course, deserves the main plaudits. He is beginning to amass a largely unrivaled résumé in the UFC, with his 8-0 record including a knockout of Robert Whittaker and the feat of being the first to submit another all-time great in “The Last Stylebender.”
City Kickboxing staple, Dan Hooker is set for his next Octagon outing on March 4. – drawing surging lightweight finisher, Jalin Turner at UFC 285 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hooker, the current #11 ranked lightweight contender, featured most recently at UFC 281 back in November of last year, stopping Claudio Puelles […]
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