Dan Hooker has revealed the real reason why he begged UFC CEO Dana White for the Arman Tsarukyan match. Hooker was scheduled to fight Justin Gaethje earlier this year; however, a hand injury forced him out of the bout.
The Hangman’ was out of action for several months, and after he was cleared to fight, the promotion announced the UFC Qatar headliner between Tsarukyan and Hooker, which will go down this weekend.
In a recent sit-down with MMA Junkie’s Nolan King, Hooker revealed why he wanted to fight the No. 1-ranked UFC lightweight contender. Hooker believes Tsarukyan is the path to the title:
“You know, Dana has come out and said it’s a number one contender fight. He’s [Arman] the number one contender that needs a win in the division, and that’s why I chased this fight, and I asked for this fight, and I nagged the UFC to give me this fight—because I knew no one between myself and Arman Tsarukyan would want to fight Arman… I knew that with a win over Tsarukyan, I would get to jump the queue. I get to jump from outside the top five to the number one contender in the division. So yeah, exciting times for sure.”
Check out Dan Hooker’s comments below (3:21):
As per the updated UFC rankings, Hooker currently holds the number six spot on the lightweight chart. A win over Tsarukyan could warrant him a title shot next. However, as per sources, Gaethje is next in line to challenge champion Ilia Topuria for the 155-pound championship. Gaethje has said that if he doesn’t get a title shot, he will retire.
Dan Hooker discusses why he finds battling Arman Tsarukyan so ‘exciting’
In a recent interview with Sky Sport NZ, ahead of UFC Qatar, Dan Hooker explained how the Arman Tsarukyan bout thrills him because everyone thinks the Armenian is a lot better than him. Therefore, after defeating ‘Ahalkalakets’ this weekend, he hopes to disprove everyone:
“This fight excites me because they feel like he’s a lot better than I am. That’s why this fight excites me so much. It’s like anything good that I do. He’s going to start to look like more of an idiot. He was supposed to be this super freak athlete, title contender, the guy to beat Ilia Topuria. This is his story, and now he’s losing to Dan Hooker, the bloke from New Zealand who’s lost a third of his fights.”
Check out Dan Hooker’s comments below (40:05):
