Dan Hooker does not regret his brief return to featherweight, but it’s full steam ahead at 155 pounds now.
Currently ranked No. 13 in the UFC lightweight rankings, for his most recent fight, Hooker attempted a return to the 145-pound division, getting knocked out by Arnold Allen back in March at UFC London. Hooker was able to overcome that loss and return to lightweight. According to Hooker, it was more of an immediate scheme to make quick money than a long-term strategy.
“I was aware of what I was doing when it came to the featherweight cut,” Hooker said to Ariel Helwani during The MMA Hour .. “I just had it in the back of my head. It was an itch I needed to scratch, and also, I knew the risk and reward that was at play there. After a couple of losses at lightweight I realized that I had to wait for the terrain in the division to change before I could get another chance at the top five opponents. It was a great time to get down on the floor and play some dice.
“Had Arnold Allen defeated me, I would probably have been in the ring for a title fight or just one fight from getting one. It was a risk I was prepared to take. Obviously it didn’t go the way I wanted it to go so back to ’55 and time to rebuild, brick by brick. It starts at the foundation. This is a young, hungry, and incredibly successful guy. He has won five fights, and a lot of wins. You need to restore some momentum. It’s time to fight one of these guys that’s unranked and prove where you truly belong in the division.”
Hooker began his UFC career in the featherweight division. He then moved to 155 , where he won 7 of 8 fights and was close to title contention. Then he lost to Dustin Pourier. Since then, Hooker has struggled to find consistent success, losing three of his previous four bouts, which Hooker, to some degree, attributes to making poor decisions like taking short-notice fights, and fighting without his normal training camps because of the COVID-19 situation in New Zealand.
” I didn’t realize how big of an impact all these camps in those conditions and other stuff was taking out of my body,” Hooker stated. Hooker said that most of the camps were either done away from me or my team. The results for the last year and half, two years, made me realize how important my coaches, how important my team is to the journey. It’s essential. Being young, dumb, and full of it made it difficult for me to just get out there. If you believe you can, it’s possible. I thought I could just do it on my own. I thought I could go over there and do it, fight the best guys in the world under these kind of circumstances, but that just truly made me realize how important it is to invest in my team and invest in my coaches completely. So that’s what I’ve done.”
Hooker made a decision to hire a manager as part of his reinvestment. Hooker was previously a manager but recently handed that part of his life over to Eugene Bareman, Ash Belcastro and Hooker so they can concentrate on his professional development and Hooker can just focus on his mixed martial arts career. Hooker claims that if he had done it sooner, there wouldn’t be so many recent losses.
“Eugene said no to a lot of the dumb s*** that I did! [Laughs]. ‘Oh, you’re going to take this fight, you’re going to have no coaches. Hooker stated that no coaches are allowed. It’s not as if he encouraged these choices. [Laughs]. So It makes a lot of sense, in hindsight, to have him take care of them, because you see it. As you watch, the other men are dealt. It’s not necessarily the cards that they were dealt but it’s how they play their hand. That’s what I feel. It feels like I have the skills set, everything I need, but I didn’t do it the correct way. So, after coming back to the table the second time and making a solid run and building a foundation, I know just how crucial it is to do things the right way .”
Hooker gets a chance to put his new team setup to the test this November when he faces Claudio Puelles at UFC 281 in November. Hooker will be back in the cage, even though it isn’t the matchup with Tony Ferguson he wanted.
” I’ve been waiting to get in the fight since August,” Hooker stated. “One they said, ‘Tony Ferguson’s a good fight,’ I was like, ‘Can I get after it? They gave me permission to fight or pursue that fight. It wasn’t that I was waiting to be able to face Tony Ferguson. I was just dying to fight absolutely anyone, since August. It’s too long for me to wait. I also feel like I did in the past, when I managed myself. I might have made it in August, but not in the best circumstances. It just lightens a fire in me from then on. This is the longest time off between fights that I’ve ever had in my entire life and I am absolutely chomping at the bit to get back in there.”
UFC 281 takes place on Nov. 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
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