"He was a big lad" - Dan Hooker recalls MMA fight against a 286-pound man whom he 'soccer kicked'
Dan Hooker has revealed that he was part of a mixed martial arts encounter with a 286-pound man whom he 'soccer kicked'. Speaking on The Mac Life's PUB TALK #5 show, Hooker was asked who is the heaviest opponent he has taken on till date.
The New Zealander replied by saying that when he was around 180 pounds, he took on someone 100 pounds heavier than him in a 'Kiwi Pride' rules contest:
"I did fight MMA against a guy who was like a 130 kilos. He was a big lad... I soccer kicked him. Yeah, yeah, it was a good fight. It will be somewhere on there, on the internet. I was about 80 or 84 kilos [back then]... Kiwi pride is so important. Pride rules are like head stomps and soccer kicks. But also elbows and stuff. I like the crazy stuff, you know what I mean. And I want to do like a crazy walkout with 10 background dancers and a costume," said Hooker.
Watch Dan Hooker in conversation with MMA reporter Oscar Willis below:
'The Hangman', who trains at the City Kickboxing gym in Auckland, currently holds a 21-11 win-loss record in his professional MMA career.
Dan Hooker is likely to return to the UFC featherweight division after losing three of his last four lightweight fights
Dan Hooker last fought No.4-ranked lightweight contender Islam Makhachev at UFC 267 in Abu Dhabi on October 30. He lost the bout via submission in the first round.
Hooker has lost three of his last four fights. His only victory during that period came against the unranked Nasrat Haqparast at UFC 266 on September 25. He's suffered defeats at the hands of Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler as well.
Dan Hooker hinted at a potential move to featherweight earlier in the week..
He’s now posted a clip of him making the weight 👀
https://t.co/Y51WryEFbI
Dan Hooker recently teased a move back to the UFC's featherweight division by doing a successful test weight cut and posting the video on social media.
Later, during an appearance on The MMA Hour with renowned combat sports journalist Ariel Helwani, he claimed that the Twitter post was a reply to critics who said he couldn't make weight for the 145-pound division.