UFC lightweight sensation Dan Hooker has responded to rising fighter Arman Tsarukyan’s challenge. The New Zealand native is currently on the sidelines after suffering a TKO loss against veteran lightweight Michael Chandler at UFC 257.

Earlier this week, an impatient Hooker laid out a challenge and tweeted, “Anyone can get it.” Before he could find a challenger, he got a doubter as the number 14 ranked lightweight, Tsarukyan replied to him by saying “Except me” with a facepalm emoticon.

However, ‘The Hangman’ had a hilarious response stored in for the Russian. He retweeted and wrote, “I was joking, of course, you can get it. You miss jokes like you miss weight.”

Hooker obviously was referring to Arman’s weight cut miss during the UFC 257 event. The latter fought against Matt Frevola after giving 20% of his fight fee. Though he eventually won via unanimous decision.

It is interesting to note that Arman too had thrown an open challenge like Hooker a few months back. But unlike the New Zealander, he got no takers for his open challenge.

Although Hooker laughed off the challenge earlier, it seems like he wants to make a return to the octagon with a fight against the rising Russian. Recently, he tweeted and wrote, “You’ve got your wish Get of twitter, get me a contract and we can get it. #ufc266.”

Hooker presently sits at the number 8 spot in the rankings and it’s a bit of an odd thing to accept a challenge from a fighter ranked way below him.

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Dan Hooker vs Arman Tsarukyan- recent stats

Hooker (20-10) is currently going through a lean patch. His last two fights have ended in losses. He went to war against the number one ranked lightweight contender Dustin Poirier at UFC on ESPN 12 last year. ‘The Hangman‘ lost that fight via unanimous decision.

His next loss came against promotional debutant Michael Chandler at UFC 257. He suffered a shattering TKO loss at the hands of the former Bellator lightweight champion. Hooker last recorded a win against Paul Felder last year in February. He won the fight based on a split decision.

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Tsarukyan is currently riding high on the back of 3 consecutive wins. His improving performance made him crack the top 15 code in the lightweight division. Apart from victory over Frevola, he has also picked up victories over Davi Ramos and Olivier Aubin-Mercier. His last loss came against Islam Makhachev (a man Hooker has lately been engaged in a Twitter war).

It will be interesting to see if UFC goes this way. If this match gets official, it will be a big chance for someone like Arman, who would get a real boost up if he wins.

What do you make of this match?

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