Dan Hooker has the biggest fight of his UFC career this weekend against Dustin Poirier. A win over the former lightweight title challenger will propel Hooker to a very good spot in one of the hottest divisions of the UFC. While he may not get the title shot next, a fight with a big name such as Conor McGregor could be on the cards. However, Hooker isn’t flirting with the idea of a McGregor fight.

The Kiwi talked to Submission Radio and delineated the opportunities that could come his way once he beats Poirier. Ranked No. 5 in the UFC rankings, a win over ‘The Diamond’ could take him to the top 3. The title shot is reserved for Justin Gaethje as of now. A dominant victory over Dustin can put Dan in a position to fight the winner of Gaethje vs Nurmagomedov.

While the fighter out of City Kickboxing in Auckland wants a title shot, he doesn’t like waiting around. Hence he has other opponents on his mind such as former interim champ Tony Ferguson or Conor McGregor. While most fighters would argue why they deserve a chance against the “retired” McGregor, Hooker is slightly different.

Dan Hooker believes Conor McGregor would want to fight a big PPV draw

A fight with the sport’s most marketable star doesn’t happen that quickly. Take, for instance, Conor’s last outing against Donald Cerrone. ‘Cowboy’ was going and back and forth with McGregor for the better part of last year. Given his reluctance to wait for long, Hooker would have a hard time getting in the Octagon with McGregor.

The bigger problem for Hooker is that he feels the Irish star wouldn’t be interested in fighting a guy from a small nation such as New Zealand. Even though Conor is from a small nation such as Ireland, he has a legion of followers in the USA.

“Nah he would be stupid to come and get that fight,” Hooker said jokingly. He went on to explain why a fight with McGregor may not be possible soon.

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“I’m just being honest. I’m aware it’s in his best interest to fight another pay-per-view draw or fight another guy that draws pay-per-view or general public’s attention to him. I’m a fighter from a very small country in New Zealand. Our market is very small.

“Whereas he is- you know. Even though he is from Ireland, there is a huge Irish base in the US. He has a large audience there and a large appeal in the US. It would just come down to numbers and when it comes down to numbers, I don’t feel like I’m the best fight for him,” Hooker added.

You have to give credit to Hooker for being extremely realistic. He could have easily chosen the easy way of arguing for a big payday against ‘The Notorious One’. However, he spoke the hard truth instead of sugarcoating anything.