UFC lightweight contender Dan Hooker sat down with Submission Radio and shared his candid views on Islam Makhachev. ‘The Hangman’ has expressed an interest to fight Makhachev and the two could well be on a collision course. They are ranked one after the other in the lightweight rankings and it could be a Fight Night headliner in the future.
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Hooker and Makhachev don’t have much love lost for each other especially after Makhachev’s dismissive attitude towards Hooker. In turn, Dan Hooker believes he can make short work of Makhachev once he stops the takedown from occurring. Furthermore, the City Kickboxing stand-out wants the fight to take place over the course of 5 rounds.
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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – JUNE 26: In this handout image provided by UFC, Dan Hooker of New Zealand poses on the scale during the UFC weigh-in at UFC APEX on June 26, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
“There’s so many different things, I’d say I would want that fight to be a five rounder for sure and I think that that’s two-and-a-half rounds of defending takedowns and scrambling back to my feet. But once I’m back there, I put his lights out.”
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Dan Hooker: Stepping up to the plate
‘The Hangman’ is on a two-fight skid with both his losses coming to top-tier talent in the lightweight division. When asked about facing Makhachev who is on an absolute tear with 8 straight wins, Hooker dismissed the Russian. From his standpoint, he viewed Makhachev as someone who was mimicking the blueprint laid out by Khabib Nurmagomedov.
“I feel like he’s on a good streak at the moment…. but I believe he’s been knocked out in the UFC before. So, then him copying Khabib’s homework and saying all this wild stuff like when you’ve been laid flat in the octagon doesn’t really have the same ring to it as an undefeated fighter.”
While Islam Makhachev might not be an undefeated fighter, he is certainly a massive threat to become a champion. The divisional contenders will be on notice as Makhachev is making his presence known loud and clear. He’s shown himself to have crisp striking that is an additional threat to his ever imposing takedown threat.
The MMA community will be on notice to see whether Dan Hooker and Islam Makhachev will sign on the dotted line to fight each other.
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