Dan Hooker and Arnold Allen at UFC London 2022 (CBS Sports)
UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira encourages Dan Hooker to bounce back from his losses and sends out blessings for him
Dan Hooker has found himself in rough seas following his UFC London loss to emerging prospect, Arnold Allen. Once a front-runner for the lightweight gold, Hooker has suffered four losses in his last five fights.
The City Kickboxing star was driven by the prospect of revitalizing his career with a move down to featherweight, but Arnold Allen pumped brakes to his plan. Hooker is on an all-time low in terms of his career and even the boss-man Dana White has no idea about his future.
UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira was supportive of Hooker, and wants him to bounce back. He posted a tweet captioning, “I wish him the best, and I hope he can rebound from these setbacks. God bless you and your family, @danthehangman”
This beautiful display of empathy from the champion would mean a lot to Hooker, given the fact that Charles has had to go through some dark times of his own.
At the UFC London post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White reacted to Dan Hooker’s fourth loss in five outings and said, “He came in and performed tonight. He made weight, he came in and went to war with a guy that’s undefeated in this weight class. And he can do whatever he wants to.“
Dan Hooker is hailed inside the MMA community as a real fighter- who will fight anyone, anywhere and anytime. However this loosing skid has put him on the backseat, and Hooker needs to really consider his options moving forward.
Hooker did look lean and shredded at 145 lbs. but his chin failed him. Should he stay at this weight, a fight against Dan Ige or a rematch against Edson Barboza makes sense for the Kiwi.
If he moves back to lightweight, fights against fan friendly names like Bobby Green or Rafael Fiziev will be plausible for Hooker.
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