Perennial light-weight contender, Dan Hooker has claimed he “sold” his title shot at 155lbs searching for more cash following a run of huge fights within the final 5 years, culminating in a dominant submission loss to present titleholder, Islam Makhachev in Abu Dhabi.
Hooker, the present quantity six ranked light-weight contender has been sidelined since August, most just lately delivering a detailed determination win over Polish challenger, Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 305 in Australia, extending his successful run to a few straight fights.
Returning to the winner’s enclosure with a physique kick knockout win over Peruvian grappler, Claudio Puelles following a short featherweight tour, Kiwi putting favourite, Dan Hooker would then greatest Jalin Turner in a call success previous to his win over Gamrot final summer season.
Dan Hooker claims he “sold” his shot on the light-weight title again in 2021
Linked with an enormous return struggle within the coming months — after discovering himself tied to a pairing with former two-weight champion, Conor McGregor, Hooker revealed following an enormous headliner with Dustin Poirier and Islam Makhachev again in 2021, he was in line for a shot on the crown, nonetheless, “sold” it with a view to tackle the Russian on short-notice.
“It’s just different stages of your career, like at that stage of my career I just wanted money,” Dan Hooker mentioned throughout an interview with David Adesanya. “They [the UFC] capitalized on that, and I sold my title shot. At the end of the day, that’s what it came down to… I just wanted money, then I got money, and I was like ‘Well this isn’t cool, I want a world title’ – [and] you can’t trade money for a world title at the end of the day.”
“It’s such as you’ve received to consistently set your self new targets… Early on in your profession, you say, ‘I want to be a UFC fighter’ and then you definately develop into a UFC fighter and also you’re like ‘Well this isn’t it, I need to be a ranked UFC fighter’ – and then you definately develop into ranked, however you need extra.
Throughout his prolonged tenure within the Octagon, Metropolis Kickboxing star, Hooker has racked up notable wins over the likes of Ross Pearson, Gilbert Burns, Jim Miller, James Vick, Al Iaquinta, Paul Felder, and Nasrat Haqparast.
