UFC

Dan Hooker shares if he took tips from the Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Dustin Poirier fight

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Dan Hooker faces Dustin Poirier in his next UFC fight

Kiwi star Dan Hooker was on Ariel Helwani’s MMA show ahead of his clash against Dustin Poirier.

The 30-year-old is on a three-fight win streak and sounded confident ahead of the UFC Fight Night event.

Dan Hooker celebrates his victory over Al Iaquinta of the United States fight in their Lightweight bout during UFC 243 (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

Helwani has suggested that Poirier vs Hooker could be the fight of the year, even though there is no belt up for grabs.

However, Poirier is a former interim UFC Lightweight champion. The Diamond, as he is called, lost that title to Khabib Nurmagomedov and has not fought since.

That took place at UFC 242 and Hooker was asked if he had watched that tape for any tips. Khabib is one of the best in the game and there is always something one can pick up by scouting rivals.

However, Hooker claimed he didn’t watch any of it and said he never watches previous fights:

“Honestly, I didn’t watch that fight. I didn’t watch it. What am I going to get from the way that we approach it, the style match up is completely different.

“I watched it at the time but I haven’t gone back and studied that fight. When I study opponents, I don’t look for witnesses, it’s not something I go and analyze.

“I expect them to go watch their fights and fix that. I don’t expect them to make the same mistake twice, I expect them to correct them.”

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Not over analyzing

Hooker added that the analysis part of the job is done by some of his great coaches. However, he warned that he doesn’t over-analyze his rivals else you could freeze in the Octagon.

Hooker went on to say that he watches a couple of the previous fights, but not much of his own.

The Kiwi star also suggested that his game is different to that of Khabib’s and it makes sense that he hasn’t actually seen a lot of those tapes.

Khabib Nurmagomedov of Russia competes against Dustin Poirier of United States in their Lightweight Title Bout during the UFC 242 event (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)

However, the Russian is one of the best in the Octagon, and there is always something to learn from him.

Hooker vs Poirier should be an incredible fight, and it will be interesting to see who comes out on top in all this.

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Saiyed Adeem Karim

Ditching a corporate job to follow a dream isn't easy, but when football comes calling, who can say no? Been following the beautiful game since 1998. Liverpool addict, F1 fanatic!