Tag: Dan Hooker

Dan Hooker Wants To Make Featherweight Return Against Brian Ortega

Dan Hooker wants one of the featherweight division’s biggest challenges for his return to the weight class.

Hooker recently revealed that he asked UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby to face Brian Ortega for his first featherweight fight since 2016. This co…

Dan Hooker and Brian Ortega (Photo Credits: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC & Zuffa LLC)

Dan Hooker wants one of the featherweight division’s biggest challenges for his return to the weight class.

Hooker recently revealed that he asked UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby to face Brian Ortega for his first featherweight fight since 2016. This conversation took place at UFC 269, where Hooker was cornering teammate Kai Kara-France.

Hooker, a regular at lightweight, recently had a successful practice weight cut at featherweight. He posted his successful attempt on Instagram, showing that he was able to meet the 146-pound limit.

Hooker claimed he wanted to join the division with a fight against The Korean Zombie. However, after he was informed that Zombie is injured, he shifted his focus to the two-time title challenger.

“After Kai’s win, [I saw] Sean Shelby on the way out, and that’s the first time I’ve heard from him since the featherweight [post online],” said Hooker in an interview with The Mac Life. “He’s obviously seen it, and he was like, ‘Well, what are you going to do? 55, 45?’ I said yeah, 45. I can make 45 quite comfortably if I get something good. He goes, ‘Who do you want?’ I said ‘Korean Zombie,’ but he’s injured. What about Ortega? He goes, ‘Oh, I’ll have a look. I’ll send you a list.’ I was amped up.” (h/t MMA Junkie)

Potential Fight Gives Hooker & Ortega A Chance To Rebound

Dan Hooker
Dan Hooker (Image Credit: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

Dan Hooker’s UFC run initially started at featherweight, competing six times in the weight class from 2014 to 2016. He later shifted to lightweight, where he has competed for his last 12 appearances.

Hooker is planning to drop down a weight class after fighting against some of the top names at lightweight. Over the past year, he has faced former Bellator Champion Michael Chandler and rising lightweight contender Islam Makhachev.

A potential bout against Ortega gives both fighters a chance to bounce back after recently facing defeat. Ortega notably lost a title fight earlier this year, dropping a decision to divisional champ Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 266.

Who do you want Dan Hooker to face in his featherweight debut?

Continue Reading Dan Hooker Wants To Make Featherweight Return Against Brian Ortega at MMA News.

Dan Hooker Targets Brian Ortega For UFC Featherweight Return

Dan HookerDan Hooker appears serious for a return to featherweight and a potential title run, and he’s laser-focused on a matchup with Brian Ortega. Hooker is coming off his most recent loss to Islam Makhachev at UFC 267, in which he filled in for Rafael dos Anjos on short notice after previously winning at UFC 266 […]

Dan Hooker

Dan Hooker appears serious for a return to featherweight and a potential title run, and he’s laser-focused on a matchup with Brian Ortega.

Hooker is coming off his most recent loss to Islam Makhachev at UFC 267, in which he filled in for Rafael dos Anjos on short notice after previously winning at UFC 266 over Nasrat Haqparast.

Hooker has hinted at a move to featherweight after recent social media posts showed a test weight cut to 145 pounds. Before he rose to contention at lightweight, he was debuted in the featherweight division.

During a recent interview with The Mac Life, Hooker explained a recent meetup with UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby in which he made his desires clear.

“I ran into Sean Shelby, and that’s the first time I’ve heard from him since the featherweight thing,” Hooker said. “He’s seen it, and he was like, ‘Well, what are you going to do? 55, 45?’ I said yeah, 45. I can make 45 quite comfortably if I get something good. He goes, ‘Who do you want?’ I said ‘Korean Zombie,’ but he’s injured. What about Ortega? He goes, ‘Oh, I’ll have a look. I’ll send you a list.’ I was amped up.”

Dan Hooker Planned A Move To Featherweight After Losing To Islam Makhachev

Hooker is anticipating a return to the octagon in early 2022, and it could potentially come against Ortega. Hooker has lost three of his last four fights at lightweight after winning seven of his previous eight.

Ortega and Hooker fought on the same card at UFC 266, with Ortega losing an all-time classic against featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. Former champion Max Holloway is expected to face Volkanovski in a trilogy next year, which could set up Hooker and Ortega for a potential No. 1 contender bout.

Who would you like Dan Hooker to face for his return to featherweight?

Hooker On FW Move: We’ll Cross Volkanovski Bridge When We Get To It

Dan Hooker has spoken about the prospect of moving down to a featherweight division currently ruled by teammate Alexander Volkanovski.

Hooker, who began his UFC career at 145 pounds, has seen the initial success he achieved after moving up to light…

Dan Hooker, Alexander Volkanovski

Dan Hooker has spoken about the prospect of moving down to a featherweight division currently ruled by teammate Alexander Volkanovski.

Hooker, who began his UFC career at 145 pounds, has seen the initial success he achieved after moving up to lightweight stall. Having followed a 3-3 featherweight stint with a 7-1 start at 155 pounds, which saw “The Hangman” add the names of Gilbert Burns, Al Iaquinta, Paul Felder, and James Vick to his résumé, Hooker’s pursuit for gold hit a roadblock at the top five.

Since a main event victory in his home country last February, Hooker has seen Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler, and Islam Makhachev have their hands raised at his expense. In an effort to revitalize his career, the 31-year-old looks set to return to his old stomping ground in 2022.

Hooker Not Fazed By Joining Division Ruled By Teammate

The UFC featherweight throne is currently occupied by Volkanovski, a City Kickboxing teammate of Hooker. “The Great” successfully ascended the weight classes’ mountaintop with a victory over Max Holloway in 2019, a feat he repeated in his first title defense seven months later.

Having now brushed aside the challenge of Brian Ortega, Volkanovski, who is riding a 20-fight winning streak, has staked his claim as one of the most dominant active champions in the promotion.

In a recent interview with It’s Time For Sports, Hooker was asked about the possibility of meeting his friend and teammate inside the Octagon if he commits to a featherweight switch. After stating they’d “cross that bridge” when they arrive at it, “The Hangman” suggested having multiple members of the team high up in a division is not a bad scenario.

“It’s like, cross that bridge when it comes to it. That is the same as like, Brad (Riddell) in my division at lightweight. It’s never a bad position to be in. To have your training partners or your group of friends so good at fighting that you might, potentially, have to fight each other to be the best fighter in the world. That’s not the worst situation. But it’s like, I want Volk to win as well and I see him being super successful as well.”

With the ever-changing scope of each division, Hooker also mentioned that his path may never cross with that of Volkanovski, who he predicts will go onto big things in the next few years.

“The landscape of something can change so quickly in this sport. Over the next year you could see Volk doing some incredible things. You could see Volk moving up to lightweight and being a double champ, and then, you know, fighting Conor McGregor and walking away with $20 million or something crazy. That’s what I see for Volk. You can’t beat me. I want him to win as well, I want Brad to win as well, I want my teammates to be successful as well. It’s not like I want to be successful at their expense. I want to be successful but I want to see them do some incredible things as well.”

Before reaching the stage where he enters contention, Hooker will first have to establish himself at 145 pounds and record some wins. In what would be a pretty tough first assignment, “The Hangman” recently revealed a clash with “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung would be at the top of his list of desired fights.

Whoever he ends up facing, there are certainly some exciting matchups for Hooker, with the likes of Calvin Kattar, Giga Chikadze, and Shane Burgos all awaiting him at featherweight.

Would you like to see teammates Dan Hooker and Alexander Volkanovski collide at featherweight?

Continue Reading Hooker On FW Move: We’ll Cross Volkanovski Bridge When We Get To It at MMA News.

Hooker: I Can’t Be A Contender In The Current Lightweight Landscape

Dan Hooker has suggested his likely return to featherweight derives from the fact he can no longer be a contender in the current lightweight landscape.

A month out from his latest defeat in the Octagon, Hooker hinted towards a possible move back do…

Dan Hooker & Islam Makhachev

Dan Hooker has suggested his likely return to featherweight derives from the fact he can no longer be a contender in the current lightweight landscape.

A month out from his latest defeat in the Octagon, Hooker hinted towards a possible move back down to the weight class in which he began his career in. In a clip posted to Twitter, “The Hangman” can be seen making the 146-pound limit for non-title featherweight fights. He later confirmed the planned move in various interviews.

Hooker’s decision to return to the division he went 3-3 in between 2014 and 2016 comes after his initially successful lightweight stint came to a faltering end across the last year. Since victories over the likes of James Vick, Al Iaquinta, Gilbert Burns, and Paul Felder left him 7-1 at 155 pounds, the New Zealander has lost three out of four fights.

After falling short in a five-round war against top contender Dustin Poirier last June, Hooker was finished by the debuting Michael Chandler in January this year. Following a brief rebound against unranked prospect Nasrat Haqparast in September, the 31-year-old was submitted by surging Dagestani Islam Makhachev in Abu Dhabi a month later.

In an interview with It’s Time For Sports, Hooker discussed his decision to set his sights on another divisional roster after his second loss of 2021. Having been beaten by three of the top five, “The Hangman” suggested he can’t be a contender at lightweight until the landscape of the weight class changes.

“It’s just not exciting, what are you gonna go back (and fight the same guys)? you know what I mean? I’m just being real. I know where my skillset lies with those guys and I know the circumstances of the fights and the circumstances that those fights were taken under, I understand that, and I understand that if everything was a perfect world, the results of those fights definitely wouldn’t be what they were. We all know that.

“But that’s not the fact of the situation. The fact of the situation is that I’ve lost to three of the top-five guys. Under that landscape, this is just fact, under that landscape, you’re not gonna be able to make a run at the top couple of guys in the division or towards the belt until the landscape of that division changes. You would have to stay busy and fight until the landscape of the division changes, or move down to a division which I feel comfortable competing in and I feel like I have a lot of advantages in that division.”

Hooker Has Options At Featherweight

The featherweight division is about as exciting and stacked as any other in the UFC right now. Below Hooker’s teammate Alexander Volkanovski, who’s ruled the weight class since 2019, are a host of elite contenders, including Max Holloway, Yair Rodriguez, Giga Chikadze, and Arnold Allen. There are very few matchups for Hooker that won’t get fans’ imaginations running wild.

But for Hooker, there’s one man head and shoulders above the rest. In a fight just as mouth-watering as any that could be put together in the promotion, the New Zealander wants to throw down with “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung.

Despite having a preference, Hooker isn’t fussy. He’s willing to challenge anyone the fans want to see him up against, and recently expressed a willingness to enter the Octagon with fellow brawler Calvin Katter. Replying to a tweet from Chael Sonnen that suggested a clash with “The Boston Finisher” could mark his arrival back at featherweight, Hooker simply said, “Count me in.”

Who would you like to see Dan Hooker enter the Octagon with at featherweight?

Continue Reading Hooker: I Can’t Be A Contender In The Current Lightweight Landscape at MMA News.

Dan Hooker: I’d Love To Throw Down With The Korean Zombie

Dan Hooker has revealed his desire to trade leather with featherweight contender “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung if he returns to 145 pounds in 2022.

Hooker arrived on MMA’s biggest stage as a featherweight. After losses to Maximo Blanco, Jason …

The Korean Zombie, Dan Hooker

Dan Hooker has revealed his desire to trade leather with featherweight contender “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung if he returns to 145 pounds in 2022.

Hooker arrived on MMA’s biggest stage as a featherweight. After losses to Maximo Blanco, Jason Knight, and Yair Rodriguez left him 3-3 in the division, “The Hangman” made the move up to lightweight. Finding more success, Hooker defeated Marc Diakiese, Jim Miller, Gilbert Burns, James Vick, Al Iaquinta, and Paul Felder on his way to building a 7-1 record at 155 pounds.

But since his main event win over “The Irish dragon” last February, Hooker has lost three times and had his hand raised just once. After a Fight of the Night setback against current number one contender Dustin Poirier, the New Zealander was finished for only the second time in his UFC career when he welcomed Michael Chandler to the UFC in January this year.

Despite rebounding against Nasrat Haqparast at UFC 266, Hooker fell to defeat yet again in a short-notice assignment against surging Dagestani Islam Makhachev last month.

Hooker Looks To Reignite His Career At Featherweight

Having lost to three of the current lightweight top five in the past year-and-a-half, Hooker believes he’s facing a long wait for the division’s landscape to change before he can contend again at 155 pounds. With that in mind, the 31-year-old is looking to return to his old stomping ground.

After teasing the move with evidence of a successful weight cut test on Twitter, Hooker confirmed his intention to fight at 145 pounds again during an appearance on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour. Explaining why lightweight isn’t the right home for him anymore, “The Hangman” suggested a return to featherweight would represent an “exciting” fresh start.

“It excites me. Let’s just say that. That comes with pretty much every decision that I have ever made when it comes to fighting. I do what excites me. I fight and train because I love it, but getting out there and competing is how I entertain myself. I do this for fun… I do whatever is the most exciting to me. A move down to featherweight, back to featherweight, to me, is exciting. There’s a lot of exciting guys down there that I’d love to get into the Octagon with. It’s a fresh start.”

When asked which “exciting guys” he’s got his eye on for when he commits to the weight drop, Hooker identified “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung as his ideal opponent.

“I’ve had a quick look at the (roster). The head and shoulders, like the number one guy that I would love to get in there with would be The Korean Zombie. I would love to throw down with the Zombie… I feel like you just let the people decide. Whoever the people wanna see me in there against, will kind of convince the UFC. What everyone wants, everyone can get. But for me, it would be, head and shoulders, The Korean Zombie.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CNK-Mz-BEvH/

Like Dan Hooker, “The Korean Zombie” is regarded as one of the most entertaining an durable fighters in the UFC. The former title challenger has earned eight post-fight bonuses, and boasts victories over Dustin Poirier, Renato Moicano, and Frankie Edgar. The 34-year-old recently returned to the win column with a decision triumph over Dan Ige at UFC Vegas 29.

Given that Hooker is the leading candidate for “The New Zealand Zombie” title, this matchup could provide fireworks, knockdowns, blood, and just about everything you’d want from a fight.

Would you like to see Dan Hooker return to featherweight and face The Korean Zombie?

Continue Reading Dan Hooker: I’d Love To Throw Down With The Korean Zombie at MMA News.

Hooker Was Ready To “Ace” Hasbulla Off Khabib’s Shoulders At UFC 267

Dan Hooker was not happy to see Hasbulla in the cage after he lost at UFC 267.

Heading into his short-notice fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov’s protege, Islam Makhachev, at UFC 267, Hooker made it clear that he did not like Hasbulla Magomedov. The so…

Dan Hooker Hasbulla

Dan Hooker was not happy to see Hasbulla in the cage after he lost at UFC 267.

Heading into his short-notice fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov’s protege, Islam Makhachev, at UFC 267, Hooker made it clear that he did not like Hasbulla Magomedov. The social media sensation said that he was coming to Abu Dhabi to attend the event, simply to support Makhachev, and this rubbed the New Zealander the wrong way.

So, to add insult to injury after a quick and devastating first-round submission loss, none other than Khabib himself was seen inside the Octagon with Hasbulla atop his shoulders.

UFC 267: Islam Makhachev expects title shot vs. Dustin Poirier

Speaking to The Mac Life, Hooker explained that seeing this after losing made him frustrated, and he even considered chucking Hasbulla off of the former lightweight champion’s shoulders in the event Hasbulla tried his signature sneak-attack punch move.

“That was pretty hard. Like, I’m standing there, ‘cos I know his (Hasbulla) trick where he does the photo and then as soon as he gets the photo, he punches the guy, and then Khabib comes over. You’ve gotta take it, you’ve gotta wear that sh*t; that’s just part of it, that’s part of losing. You’ve gotta stand there in the ring, let the other guy get his roses and you’ve gotta just stand there and take it on the chin,” Hooker said.

“But Hasbulla comes over and I was just like, I shook his hand and I was just like, ‘If this tiny motherf*cker touches me.’ I was like, ‘I’mma ace him right off Khabib’s shoulders, like, I’m not in the mood.’ [LAUGHS] But he didn’t, so that was all good.”

Luckily, it did not come to that, and Dan Hooker did not feel compelled to throw Hasbulla around. Dana White has suggested that the Russian little person may have something going with the UFC soon and is even rumored to have offered big bucks to try to give him a fight in the UFC. So who knows, maybe a fight between these two could go down in the future, mano y mano, without the help of the Dagestan squad.

Watch the full video with Dan Hooker below:

Continue Reading Hooker Was Ready To “Ace” Hasbulla Off Khabib’s Shoulders At UFC 267 at MMA News.