UFC News: Dan Hooker claims Al Iaquinta is refusing fight with him
What's the story?
UFC on ESPN 4 saw a big win by Dan Hooker. He faced James Vick last, a fight which saw him win and regain some momentum after his last loss.
Now, it appears Dan Hooker wants to face Al Iaquinta at the Australian UFC event. He let his feelings be known and the two fighters went back-and-forth on Twitter as they built up to what promises be an incredible fight.
In case you didn't know...
Dan Hooker had been on a 4-fight streak as he went to take on Edson Barboza. Unfortunately, it was the fight that would be his undoing. Barboza won by TKO with shots to the body. This left Hooker scrambling to get his momentum back seven months later at UFC on ESPN 4 against James Vick. A first-round KO victory saw him get exactly that. Now, he is primed for Al Iaquinta.
Al Iaquinta's recent fights, on the other hand, have not been happy occasions for him. After losing a fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov for the title, he got back in form by defeating Kevin Lee. More disappointment followed this for him, as he was unable to win his fight against Donald Cerrone, putting on a great performance despite that.
The heart of the matter
Al Iaquinta appeared to like the idea of facing Hooker at first.
Hooker told Iaquinta that the UFC had informed him that Iaquinta did not want to fight him and asked him to stop pretending.
According to Iaquinta, these rumors were nothing but lies.
Hooker said that he wanted the fight and if he was lying about Iaquinta not wanting it, then it would already be booked. He went on to say that if Iaquinta did not accept the fight, he would take on Alexander Hernandez.
What's next?
It appears that both parties want the fight but there is some misunderstanding that needs to be cleared up. If it is, we could be in for the fight at the upcoming UFC Australia event.