"That was a poorly researched callout" - Dan Hooker blasts Michael Johnson for suggesting they fight in Abu Dhabi
Dan Hooker is looking to return to action as soon as possible, but is having a little trouble securing a fight from the UFC. The New Zealander is currently calling out Tony Ferguson, but is completely open to everyone. That includes Michael Johnson, despite his "poorly researched callout."
Johnson recently took to Twitter and wrote:
"Yo @danthehangman you still looking 4 someone at LW? You said anybody anywhere right? I’ll meet you half way in Abu Dhabi! End of Oct!!"
Yo @danthehangman you still looking 4 someone at LW? You said anybody anywhere right? I’ll meet you half way in Abu Dhabi! End of Oct!! https://t.co/v4Tdk1v48Y
Hooker didn't respond at the time, but on a new episode of Submission Radio, he said:
"I don't care, I'll fight Michael Johnson. I just didn't respond to the call out because I don't know where he thinks I live, but 'halfway' is not... where does he think I live?! Where does he think New Zealand is ... He said 'I'll meet you halfway in Abu Dhabi.' Mate, that's further away than America. I would rather, I don't know where he lives, but I would rather fly there and fight him in America than fly to Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi is not half way. Abu Dhabi is twice as far away as America! That was a poorly researched call out. And it just wasn't worth responding to. I was like, do they not have geography in American schools?"
Watch Dan Hooker discuss fighting Michael Johnson below:
To be fair to Michael Johnson, a flight from New Zealand to Abu Dhabi is only a few hours longer than one to Las Vegas, and about the same amount of time as flying to New York City. As a fighter from New Zealand, there's always going to be a twenty-plus-hour flight in store for any event that's not being held in his country, Australia, China or Singapore.
Dan Hooker does not want to compete in Abu Dhabi again after going 0-2 on Fight Island
What's clear is that Dan Hooker has no interest in returning to Abu Dhabi if he can avoid it. 'The Hangman' fought there twice and lost both times, first to Michael Chandler and then again to Islam Makhachev. After those defeats, he told The MMA Hour:
"I am never going back [to Abu Dhabi]. That place is terrible to me."
Hooker has some impressive horror stories about the ordeal he went through competing in Abu Dhabi, from six-week quarantines to F1 racecars speeding around the hotel while he was trying to sleep before his fights.