Dan Hooker downplays Ilia Topuria’s win over Alexander Volkanovski: "I don’t think he did anything that incredible"
UFC lightweight fighter Dan Hooker recently made critical remarks about Ilia Topuria's victory over Alexander Volkanovski. The highly anticipated fight took place in February 2024 at UFC 298, where Volkanovski lost his featherweight title to the Spaniard.
According to Hooker, his City Kickboxing teammate, Volkanovski was fatigued from his previous championship bouts against Islam Makhachev. For context, 'The Great' had only four months to prepare for his fight against 'La Leyenda'.
Consequently, Hooker believed Topuria did not need to do anything extraordinary to defeat Volkanovski. During an interview with Sky Sport NZ, he stated:
"I feel like he [Volkanovski] just turned too quickly around from the Islam Makhachev fight. I don’t think Ilia Topuria did anything that incredible, I feel like he just fought."
Check out Dan Hooker's comments below (15:00):
Notably, Topuria defended his featherweight title against Max Holloway at UFC 308 before vacating it. Currently, Volkanovski is scheduled to compete for the vacant UFC featherweight title against Diego Lopes at UFC 314.
Dan Hooker discusses the potential fight between Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev
Ilia Topuria has decided to compete in the UFC lightweight division due to difficulties with cutting weight for the 145-pound matches. He has expressed a desire to face the champion, Islam Makhachev.
Interestingly, Makhachev has cited various reasons for not wanting to defend his title against 'La Leyenda'. In the aforementioned interview, Dan Hooker discussed the potential fight between Makhachev and Topuria. He said:
"It's almost like a lose-lose situation for Islam Makhachev if he beats Ilia Topuria. 'Cause it's like, if you beat him, you don't get any real pats on the back or accolades or credentials for it. If you lose to him, then you got knocked out by a featherweight. It would then tarnish and destroy your legacy." (14:38 onwards in the aforementioned video)