"The speed killed him" - Josh Thomson feels Dan Hooker is "wasting his time" at featherweight
Josh Thomson doesn't believe that Dan Hooker's move to the featherweight division was a wise decision. Hooker succumbed to a first-round TKO loss against Arnold Allen at UFC London this past weekend and finds himself in a difficult position in his career.
ARNOLD ALLEN WITH THE BIGGEST WIN OF HIS CAREER! 💥
[ @ArnoldBFA | #UFCLondon ] https://t.co/MMiTW4XYet
Hooker competed at featherweight earlier in his MMA career but eventually established himself as a mainstay in the lightweight division. ‘The Hangman’ fought at 155 pounds for over five years before his return to 145 pounds at Saturday’s UFC London event.
In the latest edition of the Weighing In Podcast, former UFC lightweight Josh Thomson and former MMA referee John McCarthy discussed the Kiwi’s latest loss. Thomson notably stated:
“I think that Hooker is wasting his time at ’45. He needs to go to ’55. He needs to stay there, and if not stay there, maybe even go up to '70. Because what I saw tonight John was the speed. The speed killed him. He was getting hit with two punches before he even started to defend himself. And that had nothing to do with the weight cut. That had to do with the fact that he’s just not fast enough for those guys.”
He added:
“When you go down, those guys are gonna be faster. And as you get older, that makes it more difficult. If anything, go up, where they’re slower and they tend to slow down as the fight goes on.”
Watch the latest edition of the Weighing In podcast below:
Arnold Allen on the significance of a win over Dan Hooker
Prior to his fight against Dan Hooker at UFC London, Arnold Allen revealed what a win over ‘The Hangman’ would mean to him.
Allen has his sights set on UFC featherweight gold. He emphasized that beating a veteran fighter like Hooker would catapult him into the top five spot at 145 pounds. Speaking to ESPN MMA, the Englishman said:
“You know, [with] a win here, it’s only up, isn’t it? Like, you’re not gonna go, ‘Alright. You beat Dan Hooker. Now, you’re fighting No. 8.’ So, it puts you in that top five sort of title eliminator talk. So, that’s exactly what I want. And that’s how I look at this fight.”
Watch Arnold Allen's interview with ESPN MMA below:
With his win over Hooker, Allen extended his professional record to 18-1. He is currently riding an 11-fight win streak and is unbeaten in the UFC. The Brit is likely a couple of wins away from a title shot. It remains to be seen who he fights next.