Dan Hooker isn\u2019t looking ahead, but it\u2019s impossible for him to ignore what happens next if he gets through Arman Tsarukyan on Saturday in the UFC Qatar main event.<\/p>\n
UFC CEO Dana White already touted the fight as a No. 1 contender\u2019s bout, and while nothing is guaranteed until contracts are signed, Hooker appreciates that the stakes were defined before he ever set foot in the octagon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI kind of expected it, and that\u2019s why I want this fight and asked for this fight, pretty much begged the UFC to give me a shot to take Arman Tsarukyan out of the way,\u201d Hooker told MMA Fighting. \u201cIt was cool. I like the way that Dana answered it, that he was almost pissed off.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always good when the boss answers things, and he\u2019s almost pissed off that someone even asked the question. He answered that like it was obvious this was going to be the No. 1 contender [fight].\u201d<\/p>\n
A win over Tsarukyan might guarantee that Hooker gets a title shot, but that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean he\u2019s next in line.<\/p>\n
New UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria won the title with a dramatic knockout over Charles Oliveira in June, but hasn\u2019t fought since then. Rumors are swirling that Topuria could be part of the UFC\u2019s plans to launch a new broadcast deal with Paramount at the start of 2026, which means his first defense could come as early as January.<\/p>\n
While nothing is a done deal yet, all signs are pointing towards a showdown between Topuria and longtime rival Paddy Pimblett after he dusted off Michael Chandler in his most recent win to move to 7-0 in the UFC. Based on overall rankings and accomplishments, Pimblett may not deserve the title shot, but the animosity he shares with Topuria, combined with their shared star power, makes that an easy fight to sell.<\/p>\n
But does Pimblett actually have a realistic shot at dethroning Topuria?<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d Hooker said with a laugh when asked for his assessment on that potential fight. \u201cLong and short of it, I don\u2019t see that happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
He may not give Pimblett much of a chance at beating Topuria, but Hooker can\u2019t wait to get his own opportunity at the UFC lightweight champion.<\/p>\n
Unlike some fighters taking aim at Topuria lately, Hooker doesn\u2019t have anything disparaging to say about him and the fast rise he made up the ranks by becoming featherweight champion and then conquering the lightweight division with his title fight win over Oliveira.<\/p>\n
\u201cIncredible streak. Incredible run at featherweight and then obviously coming up and doing what he did to Charles, he\u2019s been on one heck of a streak,\u201d Hooker said about Topuria. \u201cAnyone wearing that belt, the contenders in the division have their eyes on and are hunting down and chasing. The future looks exciting.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I match up well stylistically with Ilia. I feel like that\u2019s a good fight, that\u2019s an exciting fight. That\u2019s obviously the fight that I want after this fight. So the UFC is going to do [Max] Holloway and Oliveira, that will probably end up being for the \u2018BMF\u2019 title, so the undisputed title, the door\u2019s wide open for that. There\u2019s a lot of movement in the division at the moment. It\u2019s a very exciting time to get a No. 1 contender fight next to your name.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beyond holding onto the UFC lightweight title fight now, Topuria is undefeated and also becoming a legitimate superstar for the promotion. That makes any fight against him that much bigger, and Hooker sees the attraction in a matchup like that.<\/p>\n
Add to that, as unbeatable as Topuria has looked since first arriving in the UFC, Hooker knows everybody can be beaten, and he just wants his chance to prove it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s obviously sweet to put an \u2018O\u2019 next to someone\u2019s name and to stop just the incredible run that he\u2019s on,\u201d Hooker said. \u201cEveryone can\u2019t be beat, but you get experienced enough in this game, I\u2019m long enough in the tooth to say that\u2019s all just mystique and hype and the promotional side of things. I know that everyone bleeds. Everyone gets tired. On any one night, any man can win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hooker loves the idea of fighting Topuria next, but none of that happens if he doesn\u2019t get through Tsarukyan first at UFC Qatar.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a fight that I like,\u201d Hooker said. \u201cI feel like I have more tools on the feet, I\u2019m versatile, but you\u2019ve got to just take it one fight at a time. I\u2019ve got a huge test in front of me in Arman Tsarukyan.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like he is the best in the division, it is the hardest fight, and that\u2019s why I want this fight. My focus is definitely on Arman at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dan Hooker isn\u2019t looking ahead, but it\u2019s impossible for him to ignore what happens next if he gets…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299690,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[49,48,641,701,638,82,640,702,3194],"class_list":{"0":"post-299689","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-fighting","11":"tag-latest-news","12":"tag-mma","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-ufc","15":"tag-ufc-news","16":"tag-videos"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}