The lead-up to UFC Qatar Fight Night was nothing short of pure drama. From nudging Ilia Topuria to the heated face-off between Arman Tsarukyan and Dan Hooker. When the Armenian fighter headbutted the latter, the MMA world could tell things were just about to heat up.

The night in Doha delivered just that. The lightweights went for each other’s heads in the first round before Hooker transitioned to more submission attempts. A failed guillotine was all it took for Tsarukyan to gain the top position. The Armenian fighter smothered ‘The Hangman’ with a tight arm-triangle from mount, cementing his place as the No. 1 Contender. Following this suffocating loss, Hooker has broken his silence for the first time.

Dan Hooker reveals his future plans

The 35-year-old had practically begged the UFC for a match-up against Tsarukyan to get a shot at the title fight against Topuria. After those ambitions went south, Hooker shared what he’s looking for in his UFC career. In a video shared by Oscar Willis on X, Hooker stated,

“You’ve got to face the cold hard truths, you’re probably never going to get your hands on a title. But I’m going to hang around as long as I possibly can and ruin as many people’s hopes and dreams as I can. Because if you can’t have nice things, no one can.”

Borderline sarcastic, Hooker’s words aren’t way off from the truth either. The Hangman suffered from one of the most brutal stretches of his career from 2020 to 2022, when he lost four of his five fights, three of them via knockout or submission.

One of the most controversial fights he took up at that time was against Islam Makhachev, the king of lightweight. At No. 5 in the division, he took the fight at UFC 267 for financial reasons, instead of focusing on a title shot.

At the end of 2022, when his momentum finally picked up pace, he’d already fallen in rankings. Building up to Tsarukyan last night, Hooker was desperate to get a title fight against the current Lightweight champion, Ilia Topuria. Leading to the octagon, Hangman called the Armenian contender “a mouthy little rich prick.”

Leaving the cage, Tsarukyan left no room for thought for his dominance, no matter his financial status.

However, despite Hooker’s melodramatic views on his career, the Armenian fighter views the former as a tough, courageous opponent, unlike ‘El Matador’ in his opinion.

“Respect to Dan Hooker for taking the fight. He has bigger balls than champ of the division,” Tsarukyan tweeted.

Making matters even, Hooker replied to him: “Respect mate, absolute class.”

Well, we must not forget, the class Hooker mentioned began with a headbutt. Nonetheless, that is not the spiciest storyline to follow.

Ilia Topuria threatened to lose his undefeated record

Arman Tsarukyan is hot in his boots, or rather, his gloves. Fresh off a 5-fight win streak, not even a year’s hiatus could derail him. The Armenian fighter ran for the title shot earlier this year against Islam Makhachev, before the Dagestani vacated that belt. However, backing out of the fight last minute, Dana White shared how he’d have to work his way up to a title shot. After Hooker, Tsarukyan is already the No. 1 contender.

From the Octagon, Tsarukyan sent a spine-chilling message, “Ilia, if you’re here, come on. There is just one contender No. 1. It’s Arman Tsarukyan. Everybody knows I’ve got to fight for the title. I’m ready. End of January, send me contract, I’ll be there.”

He continued, “Nobody can stop me in the cage. I’m the best in the world and I’m going to be a champion. I work so hard, so smart, I dedicate all my life for this sport and it pays off this day.”

Although Ilia Topuria hasn’t responded to this iron-fist invitation, he has spoken against fighting Tsarukyan multiple times. ‘El Matador’ claimed that he’d rather vacate his belt than fight the Armenian challenger, solely for his unreliable reputation in UFC.

“Listen, when you put so much effort in the game, and you have a guy in front who you don’t know that maybe he could pull out from the fight, that’s not something good for us. It’s not, ‘Ah, my back!’ Bro, I don’t f*cking care,” the lightweight champion bluntly called out Tsarukyan.

The tension is only growing, and the Armenian fighter’s challenge sits open-ended for the moment. Will Topuria give him the title shot?