Dan Hooker Returning To Lightweight After UFC London Beating
UFC veteran Dan Hooker will be returning to competition at lightweight after his most recent outing at UFC London
Dan Hooker has become a reliable man for the UFC who is willing to step inside the cage against anyone at almost any notice. “Hangman” has become a fan favorite over the years with wins over former welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns, Paul Felder, James Vick, and Al Iaquinta between 2018 and 2020.
Unfortunately, Hooker has not found the same form since and went on to drop four fights in his last five with his only win coming against Nasrat Haqparast. Out of those four losses, he was finished in three in a rather convincing fashion.
Based on the results of his recent performances, Hooker was hoping a return to featherweight would turn things around for him as he set his eyes on challenging for the title. Those plans seem to have fizzled out after Arnold Allen defeated Hooker by punches and elbows.
In an interview with Submission Radio, Dan Hooker spoke about his plans to return to lightweight after competing at featherweight against Arnold Allen earlier in March this year at UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Aspinall.
“Had a couple of weeks off and then stepped on a scale and I was just like ohhhh sheesh, we ain’t going back,” said Hooker. ““I’m closer to middleweight than I am to featherweight. I felt like I could’ve stayed at 145, but obviously a lot of sacrifice goes into that. Why would I make the extra sacrifice? If I’m in the exact same position, I’d rather be in the exact same position and eating and having a slice of cake every now and then. Put a fork in it, bud, I’m out of the [featherweight] conversation.” (h/t MMA Mania)
Dan Hooker is in no rush for his next fight
Having fought four times in just over a year since the start of 2021, Dan Hooker is in no rush to return to action soon. He’s currently ranked 13 at 155 lbs and looks to be quite a bit further away from title contention. Being as active as he is, some time off could benefit the 32-year-old fighter who may just need to give his body more time to recover.
“I’m just chilling,” said Hooker. “I should have a good amount of time off. I should just have a good reset. Like, that’s one thing I realized as well, I’ve just been kind of chasing my tail the last couple of years. I’ve just put the shovel down. I’m still in like shovel down mode. I’m thinking, fuck, how do I get out of this situation. We’ll see. Maybe when the UFC comes a little bit closer. I can get back in the mix, I can get back in the mix in a heartbeat. You can’t count a dog like me out of the game. Like, that’s just not how it works.”
Hooker did respond to Rafael dos Anjos’s callout on Twitter for a fight in July or August of this year. RDA tweeted asking his competition if anyone would like to go against him in the next fight and was not impressed by Hooker’s response as he seeks a higher-ranked opponent.
