After his fifth octagon appearance at UFC Vegas 55, Chase Hooper is back on a roll in the UFC. But he’s learned not to buy into any hype.
“At its core, it’s trying to get grounded and not do this because of other peoples’ opinions,” Hooper stated Monday in The MMA Hour following his third UFC victory, a stoppage of Felipe Colares in the third round. I’m not here to please you. This is for my family and me, my spouse, my children, my friends, my community, my gym, and to bring some recognition to myself. That’s the focus I have been trying to put my attention on and away from all of the noise.
“People will [say], “Oh, future champ! Can’t wait to see you get the belt!” The truth is somewhere in the middle.”
Hooper was barely 20 years old when he splashed onto the scene as a gangly, coily-haired teen able to roll over older opponents. A viral clip featuring Jorge Masvidal and Ben Askren gave him a boost. M&Ms were his favorite snack.
Hooper loves candy, and can still deal with it. But his mentality has changed. He listens to sports psychologists and tunes out noise from the fans, even when it’s positive and especially when it’s negative.
“I’ve already seen the worst people can write about me,” he said. It doesn’t affect me. Like, people are like, ‘Ah, you suck.’ It’s like, ‘Hey man, I’ve seen that 1,000 times.'”
Hooper fought another opponent on Saturday and avoided any concussive injury that could have come with the loss to Steven Peterson in his first UFC appearance. Hooper also appeared to be growing in his body, suggesting that he will have a less difficult time against opponents with higher athletic abilities.
But even more important, Hooper said, he no longer feels out of place on the biggest stage for MMA.
” For so many fighters they don’t have the chance to adapt to that level,” said he. You’re always jumping into deeper waters, and with the UFC the pool is endless. Max Holloway is now my weight; Alexander Volkanovski could be my opponent one day. It’s amazing to consider that when your debut is imminent. And rubbing elbows with Demian Maia, Israel Adesanya, Colby [Covington], [Kamaru] Usman, all these crazy high-level guys I’ve been on cards with, it’s so hard to jump in there at 20 when I debuted, and you’re like, ‘These are my co-workers now?’ It’s so hard to adjust to.
“But now, this is my fifth fight. Many things were perfect during the lead up [to Colares],. I now know what I can expect from the UFC fight week, and it feels like I have adapted well to it. I have pressedurized the UFC to its depth, and now I am ready to work my way ahead .”
This is quite a change from Hooper’s original position. In school, he said he was a “skinny little weird poor kid” who rarely spoke to people. He started jiu-jitsu at 8 and went straight to the gym after school, missing many of the rites of passage for teens.
“I was a poor kid on the reduced lunches and all that,” he said. One pair of shoes per year and one pair of jeans. Growing up poor and trashy. We have two different fathers, my sister. Just classic white trash folk moments, as far as you can get for Washington. It is the best it can be.
” Everyone has a reason for why something went wrong. It’s up to you whether you accept that fact and use it as a strength and a way to move on. I think I have done it pretty well .”
