"Let's do the fight justice" - Dan Hooker explains why he wants UFC 267 bout against Islam Makhachev to be five rounds
Less than a week after his win over Nasrat Haqarast at UFC 266, Dan Hooker accepted a short-notice fight against rising lightweight contender Islam Makhachev. The pair are now set to compete at UFC 267 this Saturday.
Hooker recently attempted to take things to another level. 'The Hangman' uploaded a post on Twitter asking for the upcoming lightweight banger to be a five-round contest.
Makhachev responded to the post by claiming that Hooker was only making things harder for himself with the request.
It’s worse for you twitter.com/danthehangman/…
Dan Hooker recently sat down for an interview with Submission Radio. 'The Hangman' talked about how he was feeling ahead of his main card fight this weekend.
"It was a real grind there for a couple of weeks and then that last week, just come on man, just felt good, like, felt the fitness was there. Wrestling for 45 minutes straight and feeling good, feeling sharp, feeling fresh, feeling like everything was technically there."
The 31-year-old then went on to explain his reasoning for demanding a five-round fight against the Dagestani.
"I feel like a five-rounder. You know, I just finished one of the last hard sessions of my camp and I'm feeling like a five-rounder. So, if we can make that happen, then I'm 100 percent in. Let's make it five [rounds]. I feel like people are intrigued by this matchup, as intrigued by this matchup as the co-main [event] and main [event]. So, let's do it justice."
Catch Dan Hooker's full appearance on Submission Radio below:
Dan Hooker has lost two out of his last three fights
Before his win over Haqparast last month, Dan Hooker was on a two-fight losing skid in the UFC. The first of those losses came against Dustin Poirier last June. After slugging it out for five rounds, 'The Diamond' took home a unanimous decision win. The pair took home $50,000 bonuses for delivering the Fight of the Night.
Hooker's second consecutive loss came at UFC 257. 'The Hangman' was finished by the debuting Michael Chandler in the opening round of their co-main event clash.
Having now rebounded in style, Hooker will be hoping to continue his momentum with an impressive performance against Makhachev on October 30.