Dan Hooker cannot wait to step back inside the octagon this Saturday night, after one of the longest lay-offs of his career.
‘The Hangman’ returns to action at UFC 305, when he faces Mateusz Gamrot in a Lightweight contest.
Hooker is known for being an extremely active athlete on the UFC roster but the Australian has been sidelined for some time, due to numerous injuries. Ahead of his return, Hooker sat down with the media and was delighted to be back to competition. He said:
“I feel good. I feel good. Body is at 100%. Yeah. It's just everything I feel like has come together in the last year, so I'm just looking to showcase that all.”
It is rare that the 34-year-old is often in extremely fan friendly, strike heavy wars but that is a far cry from what he is expecting from Gamrot. A large proportion of the Polishman’s wins under the UFC banner have been a result of him wearing down opponents with his grappling prowess. Hooker admitted that this has led to some changes to his usual preparations.
“It's just been a pest of a training camp, really. Just everyone diving at your legs for the past six weeks. I can’t say it’s the most fun I've ever had, but getting hit in the head a lot less, it's not bad.”
2024 marks Hooker’s 10th year in the UFC. ‘Hangman’ reflected on the incredible feat and discussed how times have changes since he first outing under the promotional banner.
“Yeah, I feel like I did get into the UFC very young, like I was only just turned 24 when I first got into the UFC and I was not a well developed fighter by any means in the imagination. So yeah, I've had to do my development in the big show. I've had to do my development against the best guys in the world.
“And you obviously trying new things, like some fights I’ll fight completely southpaw, some fights, I’m orthodox, some fight I’m wrestling, But you've got no choice. If I would have just got into the UFC and stayed (how I was), mate I was like a forward pressure fighter that would wear you out, come forward and fight you on the inside, which is the dumbest move humanly possible as a six foot tall Lightweight.
“So I've just constantly been working on things and I feel like everything's just coming together now where I can showcase a finished product. I feel like I just got good in the last year, so it's like, Well, I'm going to quit now when I just got good is doesn't make any sense.”
Hooker has never had such a gap between bouts since signing with the UFC. The veteran revealed the time off has given him a new perspective
“Time away gives you like perspective. Definitely, you appreciate it. You appreciate all these moments, but it's definitely... mate, you don't eat for a long time. you get hungry, there's no real rocket science to that. So I just haven't eaten for a long time and I'm starving.”
Hooker believes that whoever the victor is on Saturday night must be next in line for the title. This is due to the fact that many of the athletes sitting above the number 5 spot in the Lightweight rankings picked up losses in their last bouts.
“Who else is there? The only other guys (at the top), you ain't getting the title shot off a loss. If you want to be next in line, you're going to have to (win). Like, what? Now Arman is next in line? Who's after that? The title fights booked, Arman (vs) Islam, it's like who's after that? And that'll be the winner of this weekend, this is the next guy.”
