Dan Hooker, the No. 6-ranked lightweight in the UFC, recently opened up about the challenges of fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev. During an appearance on Submission Radio, Hooker highlighted that the biggest difficulty isn’t just their skills, but the myth surrounding them.
Hooker explained, “The myth of it is bigger than the actual task and they kind of ride off the back of the myth of Khabib [Nurmagomedov] and that’s bled into [Islam] Makhachev and you can see it… It definitely affected me. It’s bigger than the actual guy, if you boil it down to the actual guy, it makes it quite a bit simpler.”
Dan Hooker vs Dagestani Fighters
Hooker faced Makhachev at UFC 267 in 2021, where Makhachev earned a dominant first-round submission victory. The hype and reputation of the Dagestani fighters create a psychological barrier for their opponents, making it harder to approach the fight with confidence and aggression.
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