“Strong possibility,” Dan Hooker on dropping down weight to 145 lbs, targets UFC legend for next fight
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The Korean Zombie- Dan Hooker
UFC Lightweight Dan Hooker may no more be fighting at the lightweight next up. The New Zealander mixed martial artist has lost 3 of his last four fights, though the losses are coming from all the top opponents in Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler and Islam Makhachev. Still, Hooker believes he has more advantage at the UFC’s featherweight division.
Hooker last fought at UFC 267 against Islam Makhachev, just a month after his second-last fight against Nasrat Haqparast. Hooker won against Haqparast but lost to Makhachev in a first-round submission. Hooker currently stays in the United States as his team City Kickboxing makes preparations for moving to the USA due to extreme lockdown regulations in their origin of New Zealand.
WATCH! Dan Hooker talks about moving to featherweight after successful weight cut, talks dream fight in the division
In an interview with Ariel Helwani at the MMA Hour, Dan Hooker talked about the test weight cut he made under the experts’ check of the UFC’s Performance Institute. Hooker earlier shared a video where the result of the test weight cut was successful as he hit the scales at 145.9 pounds, within the 1 pound extension to stay the official featherweight.
“I made the weight,” Hooker said as transcribed by MMA Fighting. “That wasn’t for me, I know I can make the weight. That’s to try to convince a few people that need convincing. Obviously, my coaches were not that keen on me going back to ‘45, but that’s me stepping on the scale and making it look pretty easy if I’m being honest.”
Nothing official but Dan Hooker is definitely going down when the right opportunity knocks on the door. “That’s a strong possibility,” Hooker said. “The problem was I didn’t really ask, I just talked to Jordi [Sullivan] and Charles, my dieticians, and that was it really. I just talked to them and just went along and got the job done and did it. I haven’t even talked to the UFC about it, so maybe Sean Shelby’s [UFC Matchmaker] seen it, maybe he hasn’t. We’ll see.”
It was a no brainer for Hooker who he wanted to fight against if he dropped down to featherweight, “Head and shoulders, the No. 1 guy that I would love to get in there with would be ‘The Korean Zombie,’” he said. “I would love to throw down with ‘The Zombie.’
“So I don’t know what the people were saying, that’s why I just put it out there, stepped on the scale, made the weight, and I feel like you just let the people decide. Whoever the people want to see me in there against will kind of convince the UFC. What everyone wants, everyone can get, but for me, it would be head and shoulders ‘The Korean Zombie.’” concluded Dan Hooker.
Chan Sung Jung aka ‘The Korean Zombie’ is hands down one of the most exciting fighters in MMA history. Out of his 17 victories, The Korean Zombie has finished 14 of them via knockout or submission and is the rightful owner of the first-ever twister submission performed in the UFC.
Fighting since the WEC days, The Korean Zombie is a fan-favourite legend of the sport and is coming off a win against exciting featherweight contender Dan Ige. He is a Navy veteran and a performer of compulsory military service. What do you think of this fight between Dan Hooker and Korean Zombie, and who takes the win if it happens in the future?
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Abhai Singh Tanwar
(1386 Articles Published)