It took Dan Hooker six years to make a return to featherweight, but the drop did not go as the New Zealander had anticipated and now wants to come back to lightweight as he believes fighting at 145 is too much of a sacrifice.
I couldn’t make 145 if I wanted to: Dan Hooker
A professional since 2009, Dan Hooker (21-12) made his featherweight debut all the way back in June 2012 at Legend FC 9. Following a Lightweight Championship reign at AFC, Hooker returned to featherweight on his UFC debut at UFC Fight Night 43 in June 2014 and made his last fight at 145 in November 2016 before settling down at lightweight from 2017 onwards.
Back in March this year, Hooker made his second return to featherweight and took on 6th ranked fighter in the division, Arnold Allen in the co-main event at UFC Fight Night 204. Unfortunately, The Hangman’s much awaited comeback to 145 ended with a first round TKO defeat.
Even though Hooker had no issue with cutting weight, he believes 145 is way too much sacrifice and in a recent interview with Submission Radio, stated that its best for him to remain at lightweight.
“Oh, f*ck no – I couldn’t make 145 if I wanted to,” said Hooker, “I felt like I could’ve stayed at 145, but obviously a lot of sacrifice goes into that. But off of the result of the last fight, and then I feel like I’m in the exact same position at both weight classes – so why not? Why would I make the extra sacrifice? The extra sacrifice was to get me back in the same position that I was in. You know what I mean? But if I’m in the exact same position (relating to the title picture), I’d rather be in the exact same position and eating and having a slice of cake every now and then.”
The 32-year-old, currently ranked 13th in the lightweight division, has won only once in his last five outing in the Octagon. However, Hooker said that he is looking to take some time off from the cage before he returns to action once again.
“I’m just chilling. I should have a good amount of time off. I should just have a good reset. 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, f*ck, how do I get out of this situation? We’ll see. Maybe when the UFC comes a little bit closer (to New Zealand),” added Hooker. [H/T MMA Junkie]
Do you think Dan Hooker should remain at 155? Let us know in the comments.
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