Dan Hooker couldn’t help but laugh when reminiscing on his night at BKFC’s recent event in Marbella, Spain.
“That, I would do for fun,” he said Tuesday on Uncrowned’s “The Ariel Helwani Show.”
Bare-knuckle boxing isn’t something we can expect to see Hooker involved in until his MMA career wraps. Despite that, violence and New Zealand’s “Hangman” have been like magnets to each other since his 36-fight professional journey began in 2009.
Hooker, 34, entered the UFC at featherweight before finding his stride at lightweight. A rough patch brought the Kiwi back to the 145-pound division temporarily, but he was always at his best when hitting the 155-pound mark.
Since then, Hooker’s found a resurgent bundle of momentum and strung together three straight victories to become a top-five UFC lightweight contender. Hooker attributes a lot of his turnaround to simply “being smarter” with his approach to the sport. As in the thick of contention as he currently is, Hooker recently attracted some attention from MMA’s megastar Conor McGregor.
So much so that “The Notorious” is interested in fighting him.
“We seem to get on quite well,” Hooker said. “It’s a fight that makes a lot of sense for him, makes a lot of sense for me, and we’re obviously both keen on the fight. I just don’t know what’s going on with him behind the scenes, and I don’t know what’s going on with him and the UFC and their relationship. That’s all I can say.
“People since that rumor started going around [about us fighting] were going, ‘Oh, don’t be another Michael Chandler.’ That’s not the plan. I’m fighting early next year. I told the UFC January or March. It’ll be someone in the top five or Conor McGregor. That’ll be who I’m stepping inside the cage with.”
Several lessons have been learned from Chandler, as Hooker alluded.
The former three-time Bellator lightweight champion waited beyond what the MMA community expected for a would-be McGregor clash. Ultimately, patience got the best of Chandler, as he eventually turned to a Charles Oliveira rematch at UFC 309 on Nov. 16.
Whether or not Hooker lands the cash cow McGregor next, he plans to have an idea for his next opponent by the end of the weekend. His manager is currently accompanying Alexander Volkanovski for UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi, where he’ll meet with UFC CBO Hunter Campbell.
“We all like money, brother, and when you’re getting as much as he’s getting, a little cash injection of $20-$30 million, I’m sure there’d be not many men on the face of the Earth that could turn that down,” Hooker said of McGregor.
“He’s obviously still fit and training, stuff like that. The heart of a fighter just keeps ticking, keeps itching. It just comes down for him [to] fights that make a lot of sense, I guess. And if they make a lot of money, they make a lot of sense.”
The aforementioned Oliveira was atop Hooker’s list of possibilities right after his latest victory, a split decision over Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 305. He’s now re-evaluating and receiving plenty of interest from his peers.
“I’ve had a lot of the guys in the top five say my name,” Hooker said. “Arman [Tsarukyan] mentioned it for an interim title. [Justin] Gaethje mentioned my name. [Dustin] Poirier, obviously, mentioned my name. I’m keen on any of those fights.
“Arman spoke for the belt. Dustin, I don’t know. He laid his gloves down in his last fight, then he’s coming out and he’s saying he’ll do another one but like as a retirement fight. I don’t know. I’m not really interested in kicking someone on the way out the door. Gaethje, that’s obviously a fight fan’s dream, that right there. Someone new, there’s something there that fans have wanted to see for a very long time, and finally kind of makes sense.”
Hooker’s first encounter against Poirier was one of 2020’s best when they met in Las Vegas. Unfortunately for Hooker, he fell short via unanimous decision on the night, snapping a three-fight win streak.
Not in love with the rematch because of Poirier’s impending departure, Hooker admits he would still take it if offered. Gaethje, on the other hand, ignites that cozy, warm — but psychotic — feeling in his heart.
Then there’s another type of “Money” that’s been calling Hooker’s name, and that’s Brazil’s Renato Moicano. The grappling ace has had Hooker on his radar for a while but a matchup has yet to materialize.
That, in Hooker’s words, is no one’s fault but Moicano’s.
“He’s blaming and trying to say that someone put him in the tree,” Hooker said. “The only person that’s to blame for me being in the top five is Moicano, because he turned me down. He ducked me in Perth so I skated right past him and I fought the No. 5 and I beat him. He could have fought me in Perth. His excuse was taxes. So, he pissed off to France and paid the exact same amount of taxes [at UFC Paris] he would have paid in Perth. He took an easier fight, a fight he thought he could skate by and it didn’t work out for him. He got the win and he didn’t go absolutely anywhere.
“In a sport of risk-reward, he took the easy path and now he’s nowhere. Looking back and thinking that I’m going to take the Moicano fight when I have three of the guys in the top five saying my name in the last couple months would be — the only thing I’ve got to do now is not do anything dumb. That would be something dumb.
“Would I want to fight him? Of course,” Hooker added. “I’ve been wanting to fight that guy for years, but right now it looks like I’d be looking in the rear vision.”
Moicano’s manager swiftly texted Helwani during the show to refute claims of a Perth fight ever being offered.
Speaking of momentum, Moicano is riding a good wave as well, winning four straight with three of those by finish (two knockouts, one submission).
Among his latest victories, the most recent over Benoit Saint Denis was arguably the most impressive. Moicano dominated the Frenchman thoroughly in enemy territory, dismantling him on the canvas. Saint Denis did his best to rally in round two, but once they were headed for the third, the doctors had seen enough. Saint Denis’ vision was impeded by the damage dealt and Moicano scored the win.
Ultimately, Hooker wasn’t surprised that the fight played out how it did between his fellow 155-pound hopefuls.
“Benoit’s not top-10, top-15 caliber,” Hooker said. “The guy’s athletic, he’s tough, he’s strong, but his biggest win before the Poirier fight was Matt Frevola and then he kinda got gassed up to fight Poirier. He got thrown in the deep end. That’s the coolest thing he’s ever done and he got knocked out by Dustin Poirier, so I expected that result. Moicano is a solid fighter. He has strong grappling and a solid game. I expected him to get by ‘BSD’ like that.”
