UFC lightweight contender Dan Hooker ready to fight former interim champion Justin Gaethje
UFC Lightweight contender Dan Hooker took to Twitter to hint that he is ready to fight former interim champion Justin Gaethje.
The 31-year-old American, who lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 254, put up the following message on Tuesday:
To which Dan Hooker replied:
The Kiwi contender lost a decision to Dustin Poirier back in June in an intense 5 round battle. Dan Hooker has since called out Charles Oliveira and former Bellator Champion Michael Chandler, but both those fights are yet to materialise.
Dan Hooker angling for a fight against Justin Gaethje
Justin Gaethje put up a flawless performance against Tony Ferguson earlier in the year at UFC 249 to earn his shot at Khabib. However, Khabib did to Gaethje at UFC 254 what he does to everyone else - he pressured him, tired him out, took him down and choked him out.
Despite having relative success with leg-kicks in both rounds, the American wilted under the pressure of the Russian phenom. With Khabib then retiring at the end of the fight, the focus has shifted away from Gaethje ever since.
However, with Gaethje taking minimum damage in the fight, he could be ready for a fast turn-around.
Khabib's teammate Daniel Cormier revealed in the aftermath of UFC 254 that the champion didn't want to hurt Justin Gaethje in front of his parents - and hence opted to choke him out instead of attacking with an armbar.
"He [Khabib] told me when he was watching the interviews over the course of the week, he saw that Justin said that he would never tap. So when he was going to the submission, he said it was his dad's favourite submission, get into the mount position, go into the armbar, go into the triangle.
"When he got there, he was going to do the armbar, but he had heard Justin saying all week that he would never tap, and he didn't want to hurt him in front of his parents. So he went to the triangle and just kind of put him to sleep."
Dan Hooker seems to be the only fight which makes sense for Justin Gaethje assuming Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier are fighting each other in January.