“Now, he’s not a good fighter” - Arman Tsarukyan sounds off on Dan Hooker ahead of his return to the UFC lightweight division
Arman Tsarukyan has taken a jibe at UFC fan-favorite striking savant Dan Hooker. Tsarukyan notably engaged in a war of words with Hooker last year and was seemingly on a collision course with the New Zealand fighter. This was back when Hooker was ranked in the upper echelons of the UFC lightweight division.
While their fight didn’t materialize, Tsarukyan continued his winning ways inside the octagon. The 25-year-old Armenian-Russian fighter is currently on a five-fight win streak. Meanwhile, the 32-year-old Hooker has lost four of his last five fights. Presently, Tsarukyan stands at No. 11 in the official UFC lightweight rankings, while Hooker holds the No. 13 spot.
MMA journalist James Lynch recently spoke to Tsarukyan and highlighted that Hooker is set to return to the lightweight division after competing at featherweight in his last fight. On that note, Lynch asked Tsarukyan whether he’s still interested in fighting Hooker. Tsarukyan responded by stating:
“No, no. Now, he’s not a good fighter, you know. Before? Yes. He lost his last two or three fights, you know. And he beat someone from unranked guys, you know. Like, what’s his name? Nasrat [Haqparast]. Yeah, Nasrat.”
Tsarukyan added:
“And he [Hooker] is not interesting for me, you know, because it wastes time to beat him. You know, just, if I beat him, they say, ‘Oh, he lost fights.’” Tsarukyan reiterated that Hooker is on a losing streak and added: “It’s no point to beat him now.”
Watch Arman Tsarukyan address a potential fight against Dan Hooker in the video below:
Dan Hooker on avoiding the “extra sacrifice” that comes with fighting in the UFC featherweight division
Rising lightweight star Arman Tsarukyan will face the No. 12-ranked lightweight Mateusz Gamrot in the headlining matchup of UFC Fight Night 208 on June 25th. On the other hand, it's unclear who Dan Hooker will fight next.
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LW prospects @ArmanUFC & @Gamer_MMA officially headline on June 25th! #UFCVegas57 https://t.co/R2QXBCj05d
Dan Hooker started his UFC career at featherweight but later moved to lightweight where he found great success. Nevertheless, after a few setbacks at lightweight, Hooker returned to featherweight in his most recent fight.
The fight, which transpired in March of this year, witnessed Hooker suffer a first-round TKO loss against Arnold Allen. Speaking to Submission Radio, Hooker subsequently explained that he’ll refrain from making the extra sacrifice that’s required for him to cut down to featherweight.
Indicating that he’ll return to lightweight instead, Hooker said:
"I could've stayed at 145, but a lot of sacrifice goes into that. After the result of the last fight, I feel like I am in the exact same position in both weight classes. So, why would I make that extra sacrifice?"
Watch Hooker's full interview in the video below: