“He wouldn’t fight regularly” – Dan Hooker shows hesitation in accepting Islam Makhachev as new champion after UFC 280

“He wouldn’t fight regularly” – Dan Hooker shows hesitation in accepting Islam Makhachev as new champion after UFC 280

Dan Hooker reacts to Islam Makhachev becoming champion

Dan Hooker is impressed by Islam Makhachev’s performance at UFC 280 against Charles Oliveira but is afraid the new champ will hold up the division.

At UFC 280, the lightweight got a new champion in Islam Makhachev. A champion in the making for quite a few years finally proved his worth to the entire division by easily defeating the dangerous Charles Oliveira. Dan Hooker, who is a lightweight fighter reacts to the new champion of the division.

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In a recent interview with SubmissionRadio, Hooker reacted to Makhachev’s submission victory against Charles Oliveira. “Phenomenal performance doing that and that too to a guy like Charles, who had an impressive run as a champion,” said Dan The Hangman in his interview. Later he went on to reveal why most of the fighters in the division are hesitant about accepting the new champion.

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“I think the biggest hesitation people had about Islam becoming the champion is that he wouldn’t fight regularly or would be as active as a guy like Charles,” said Hooker revealing the hesitation behind accepting the Dagestani as the champion.

Oliveira became the champion in May of 2021. The fighter since becoming the champion has fought three title fights in the next 17 months. Oliveira undoubtedly has had one of the most entertaining runs as a champion in the lightweight division’s history. “Do Bronx” was in four title fights including the one against Islam Makhachev and all of them did not go past the third round.

Also read: “He made him quit” – Fans SHOCKED as Islam Makhachev destroys Charles Oliveira at UFC 280 to become undisputed lightweight champion

Rivalry between Dan Hooker and Islam Makhachev

Islam Makhachev vs Dan Hooker UFC 267
Islam Makhachev vs Dan Hooker

In his run to the title shot, Islam Makhachev was desperate to fight a top contender and had barely any fighters that were open to fight the Dagestani. Hooker, swooped to take a tough short notice fight against Makhachev at UFC 267. The hangman and Makhachev were going back-and-forth for quite a bit and finally had an opportunity to face each other in the octagon.

Also read: Islam Makhachev or Beneil Dariush: Dan Hooker picks best technical grappler in Lightweight division

At UFC 267, when Makhachev took on Hooker, the fight ended before it could even gain momentum. Makhachev finished the Kiwi fighter with the most ease under three minutes. Makhachev barely broke a sweat in his fight against Hooker.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZGuM5oUGFiA

Before their fight, the Hangman was not open to fighting a Makhachev that was ranked below him. Leading up to UFC 280, Hooker also predicted that Charles Oliveira would end up defeating Dagestani which in the end turned out to be the opposite.

Also read: “They’re trying to get him to the title,” Dan Hooker talks about his fight against Islam Makhachev at UFC 267