“As you know, I broke my arm, and when I returned to training, I began to look after my opponent,” the New Zealander told Submission Radio. “I called the manager and asked him which of the tops he plans to organize a fight for me, and he answered – we are asking Tony Ferguson. And I was damned offended by it. I thought fighting this guy wasn’t what I was here for.”
“I’m not here to fight veterans, but to be the best. I’m here to challenge myself against the best guys in the world. If you don’t belong to the elite, or you’re talking about retirement, I’m not interested in you. Some guys like RDA say ‘I don’t have title ambitions anymore’ but I want to fight real contenders. That’s what I’m here for. It gets me out of bed in the morning and makes me work hard.”
Dan Hooker will fight his next fight this weekend at UFC 290 in Las Vegas, and his opponent will be the American Jalyn Turner, who occupies the eleventh position in the division.