“I feel like you’d get beaten up in the car park,” Dan Hooker calls out Paulo Costa for being extremely disrespectful to the sport

“I feel like you’d get beaten up in the car park,” Dan Hooker calls out Paulo Costa for being extremely disrespectful to the sport

Dan Hooker and Paulo Costa

Marvin Vettori defeated the former title challenger Paulo Costa at the main event of UFC Vegas 41. The fight was an absolute banger but it picked up more attention because of the drama including Costa’s weight issue.

The fight was supposed to happen at the middleweight, but Costa showed up 10kg overweight, and the fight had to be moved up to the light-heavyweight. People condemned Costa for his actions, and UFC’s lightweight contender Dan Hooker believes it was extremely disrespectful to everyone.

Talking to Submission Radio, he said, “What Costa did, he didn’t earn the right to do that. It was a funny situation because it was only what, a couple of weeks ago that we let Nick Diaz roll up and do it. But Paulo Costa hadn’t done for the sport what Nick Diaz had done, but obviously same result, he got the weight class changed entirely. So I don’t know, it’s kind of funny, like a bit of a power play. But it’s not for me, it’s not like the Anzac culture of the sport.”

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“Just a massive ‘F you’ to the fans, ‘F you’ to the UFC, ‘F you’ to his opponent,” Dan Hooker on Paulo Costa

Dan Hooker on Paulo Costa
Dan Hooker on Paulo Costa

Hooker claims something like that would have never happened in his home country, he said, “That would never happen, something like that in New Zealand or Australia. I feel like if you just showed up to a local kickboxing show with your fighter 10 kilos (approx. 22 pounds) overweight and you were like, ‘What are you gonna do about it?’ I feel like you’d get beaten up in the car park. It’s just a sign of respect. That’s all it is. It’s a matter of respect.”

He added, “I show up on weight as a respect for my opponent, as a respect for my gym, as a respect for representing who I represent. It’s a sign of respect to the fans, it’s a sign of respect to the promotion. It’s absolutely everything. So it absolutely is what it is. Him coming out like that is just a massive ‘F you’ to the fans, ‘F you’ to the UFC, ‘F you’ to his opponent.”

Also read – “Let’s see who really is the better fighter when we go out here,” Dan Hooker doubles down his call for a five-round fight against Islam Makhachev at UFC 267