Dan Hooker reacts to announcement of fight against Arnold Allen
Dan Hooker has given his thoughts on the announcement that he'll be taking on Arnold Allen on March 19.
The UFC London card, which takes place on the aforementioned date, is already looking pretty stacked with the likes of Tom Aspinall, Alexander Volkov and Paddy Pimblett all taking their place on the bill.
Now, another big fight has been added to the mix as Dan Hooker prepares to go toe to toe with promising British prospect Arnold Allen. This will serve as a fascinating featherweight test for Hooker. Allen, who is just 28 years old, holds an unbeaten 8-0 record in the UFC.
Following the announcement, 'The Hangman' took to Instagram to react to the bout announcement. In the caption, the Kiwi wrote:
“"Once more unto the breach, dear friends.” 8 weeks out, March 19th, UFC London."
It's not yet known where the Arnold Allen vs. Dan Hooker bout will land on the fight card. Considering Hooker's name value, the expectation is that it'll slide into the co-main event slot. In the main event, Tom Aspinall will lock horns with Alexander Volkov in a pivotal matchup in the heavyweight division.
Why is Dan Hooker returning to featherweight?
For the first time in over five years, Dan Hooker will be heading back down to 145 pounds - the weight class where he began his UFC career. He'll be doing so off the back of some unfortunate results that have seen him lose three of his last four bouts.
His disappointing run of form includes defeats to Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler and most recently, an emphatic submission loss to rising star Islam Makhachev.
Hooker has been in this game a long time and clearly acknowledges that he needs to do something drastic. Taking a fight against a promising prospect like Arnold Allen certainly fits that description.
Hooker recently alluded to the advancements in the science of weight cutting and the state-of-the-art facilities on offer at the UFC Performance Institute. In an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, the Kiwi said:
“From when I was there in the past and to where I am now, just obviously the science and the people that are a part of the UFC, like Charles [Stull] ‘The Angry Dietician,’ the fight dietician that I work very closely with, and Clint [Wattenberg] and the people at the PI [UFC Performance Institute] have all been — it’s been smooth sailing. That took me all of two weeks to get down and cut to that weight, so if I can do it in two weeks on holiday, you give me a fight, that’s a whole different story.”
Watch Dan Hooker’s full interview on The MMA Hour below: