"Hector Lombard would just hurt these kids so bad" - Dan Hooker reveals why he chose not to train with American Top Team
![Hector Lombard [left], Dan Hooker [right]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2022/03/2443b-16466691156738-1920.jpg?w=500)
Dan Hooker recently detailed the stories he heard that made him not want to join American Top Team.
Dan Lambert's ATT gym in Coconut Creek, Florida, houses a wide array of world-class fighters. When Dan Hooker went to the U.S. to pursue professional MMA, he considered the facility as a potential place for him to hone his skills.
However, 'The Hangman' hesitated when he heard rumors about how the ATT training setup usually works. According to Hooker, coaches would hand-pick newcomers to spar with big-name fighters who have an upcoming fight.
During The AllStar's UFC 272 recap show, he revealed:
“Originally, I wanted to go to American Top Team… But then [I] talked to guys that had been there, come and gone from there, and they pretty much told me like, if you’re like a younger guy coming in, it’s a sink or swim kind of thing. You show up at American Top Team and you just get used as a body. [Let’s] say like, a bigger-name fighter has a fight coming up, they just kind of pick you out of the group… throw him and he can do a couple of rounds with this big-name fighter."
Hooker was also once told that guys like Hector Lombard would hurt those newbies so badly that it often shortened their careers.
"I just heard about guys like Hector Lombard ending numerous young fighters’ careers, like a new guy would show up to the gym, they chuck him in with Hector Lombard and Hector Lombard would like, melt these kids and knock them out and hurt them so bad that they would actually shorten their careers and stuff like that… Well, I don’t just want to be used as a cannon fodder. I’d rather go to place that wants to work with you and has a bit of a team environment.”
Watch Dan Hooker talk about ATT below:
City Kickboxing coaches weren't initially in favor of Dan Hooker's return to featherweight
Following a first-round submission loss to Islam Makhachev at UFC 267, Dan Hooker decided to return to featherweight. He is slated to face Arnold Allen this month in the co-main event of UFC London.
Hooker's coach, Eugene Bareman, and his team weren't confident about the 32-year-old's decision at first. However, 'The Hangman' persisted and it prompted the City Kickboxing chief to propose a deal.
According to Bareman, he told his pupil that if he can prove that he can handle weight-cutting procedures without any complications, they'll back him up. To his surprise, Hooker went on and "aced it."
Watch Bareman discuss Hooker's return to featherweight on The MMA Hour below: