"To me, he's just another body" - Dan Hooker reveals what convinced him to accept the Islam Makhachev fight
Dan Hooker has opened up on his upcoming fight against Islam Makhachev and why he agreed to fight the dangerous Dagestani MMA stalwart.
'The Hangman' has made a quick turnaround and accepted to fight Makhachev on short notice. He has done so after the latter's original opponent, Rafael dos Anjos, pulled out of their fight due to injury issues. Hooker has asserted that Makhachev is 'just another body' for him.
During an interview with TheMacLife, Dan Hooker broke down the allure of fighting someone with as much hype and momentum as Makhachev, saying:
“Yeah, he is like, he’s got a little bit of the (Khabib Nurmagomedov) mystique. It has rubbed off on him. And his last few performances have been fairly dominant. I’ve trained with Drew (Dober), and the way he fought Drew was pretty decisive. Even his last fight, he came out there and it was a pretty dominant fight. So, it’s like, there’s definite skill there. There’s definite skill there, but I would love to be the first one to get out there and just make him look human. Because I know we all are."
"That’s the funny thing about it. People can say whatever they’re gonna say, ‘Oh, this guy is unbeatable. This guy is untouchable’. I’ve been in the gym with these guys, you know, like, they all bleed. They all get tired. They all get injured. They all get hurt. And I know I can put anyone’s lights out. So, to everyone else, he’s kind of a mysterious character; that’s like a lot of mystique and invincibility. To me, he’s just another body.”
Dan Hooker's commitment to his MMA career
Another notable factor that influenced Dan Hooker's decision to take the Makhachev fight was because he wants to earn as much as he could for his family by fighting as frequently as possible.
Dan Hooker suggested that COVID-related lockdowns, travel restrictions and quarantine norms in his native New Zealand have contributed to him choosing to fight twice in the span of a few weeks.
The Hangman highlighted that if he were to fly back from Las Vegas to New Zealand right now; he'd have to quarantine, return to training, and then again go through the hassle of flying out of New Zealand for his next fight.
"You're a coward if you duck me!"
A final parting shot from 🇳🇿🪝 @DanTheHangman as he calls his next shot! #UFC266 https://t.co/oVFAf2dFFh
On the contrary, now that he's in Vegas, without having to worry about strict COVID-related rules in New Zealand, Hooker has accepted the short-notice fight against Makhachev. Hooker will fly to Abu Dhabi to fight Makhachev at UFC 267 on October 30th, 2021.
DAN HOOKER (@danthehangman) is stepping in to face Islam Makhachev (@MAKHACHEVMMA) at UFC 267 in one month, per Dana White (@danawhite). Just fought at UFC 266, on a week he had to fly from New Zealand to Vegas two days before the fight. What a savage, this guy. https://t.co/DJvGnbWwlF
Moreover, Dan Hooker is also open to the possibility of moving out of New Zealand due to the strict lockdown and COVID-related rules. The Hangman is willing to live elsewhere to once again stabilize his training camps and career. He would likely have his family eventually join him.