Dan Hooker is one win away from a title shot.
This past Saturday, Hooker picked up the biggest win of his career, taking a split decision victory over Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 305. The back-and-forth war earned Hooker his third Fight of the Night bonus, and also, according to “The Hangman,” a shot at the No. 2-ranked lightweight in the UFC: Former champion Charles Oliveira.
“They want Charles [for me next],” Hooker told The Mac Life. “That’s a good fight. But there’s heaps of cool shit I can do. The lay of the land is pretty crazy. It’s such a wild sport. We’ll see how it plays out.”
Hooker is currently on a three-fight win streak since returning to lightweight, and will almost certainly move into the UFC’s top five at lightweight. A win over Oliveira would likely guarantee Hooker a shot at the title next, but “The Hangman” isn’t all that hung up on it. In fact, if he had his druthers, it seems Hooker would face No. 1 contender Arman Tsarukyan next.
“Oh yeah, anybody. I couldn’t care less,” Hooker said of his next opponent. “All of them. Even Arman. I said to Sean [Shelby] I would like to fight Arman. Because screw it. We’ll go the toughest way to the title we possibly can. [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.
“He’s a prick. He’s been talking shit for years. He’s just a prick,” Hooker continued of Tsarukyan. “There’s nothing more to it. It’s like the duality of fighting. There’s no one more I hate in the world than these other guys in the division, but there’s no one else I respect more in the world than the other guys. There’s no one more similar to me, but we’re all vying for the same thing.”
Hooker was taken to the hospital after UFC 305 but his tests came back clean for any serious injuries and thus he expect to be good to return to action in the near future. Given that, Hooker hopes that whoever he faces next, it happens before the end of the year, setting him up for a title fight in 2025.
“I’d like to get one more in this year,” Hooker said. “I’ve got another baby on the way, due in February. So I’d like to knock one out before then. There’s another card [rumored for Sydney in February], but it’s a couple days before my wife’s due, so you’re cutting it a bit fine. I’m not going to stress the missus out like that. She deals with enough. She’s married to me, for f*ck’s sake. So if we can knock another one out this year, that will be incredible and then fight for the title next year.”
