Racing
League
Rugby
Cricket
Golf
Motorsport
Combat Sports
Football
Netball
Basketball
Other Sports
Sport Nation
Rested and rejuvenated Hooker ready to rocket up lightweight rankings at UFC 305
Stephen Foote • August 15th, 2024 10:59 am
There's no need to remind veteran UFC lightweight Dan Hooker that he's now the elder statesman of the Aotearoa MMA scene, he gets it on a regular basis.
On any given day at Auckland's City Kickboxing, Hooker admits one of the aspiring younger fighters he shares the mat with will throw a sly verbal jab in the 34-year-old's direction – but his readymade comeback tends to shut down the conversation pretty quickly.
"I always fire back," Hooker told SENZ. "I ask them how old they are, they say 24, and I say, 'well I was in the UFC when I was your age, brother, so you got some catching up to do."
This year marks a decade in the UFC for the Aucklander, who's officially the kaumatua of New Zealand's ever-expanding contingent competing in the world's premier fighting promotion, with a staggering 21 bouts to his name under the famous banner.
In 2014, Hooker hustled his way on to the UFC's first event in New Zealand, where the headline act featured local hope Jamie Te Huna up against American Nate 'The Great' Marquadt.
While that fight finished forgettably early, and not in the manner NZ fans would've hoped – it was Hooker's banquet of elbows that stole the show at what has since become Spark Arena, tenderising Englishman Ian Entwhistle like a prime cut of NZ beef in a debut that perfectly set the tone for the next decade to come.
'The Hangman' has since become a genuine fan favourite, a cult hero even, the kind of performance bonus machine that other fighters will ensure they're in front of a TV for whenever his name pops up on a card.
And Hooker will have plenty of eyeballs on him this weekend, when he returns to the Octagon after the longest lay-off of his career to square off with Polish marauder Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 305 in Perth, part of a card that also includes his City Kickboxing teammates Israel Adesanya and Kai Kara-France.
It's been 13 months since Hooker overcame a broken arm to earn a split decision victory over the rangey Jalin Turner at UFC 290. He was originally slated to return against Bobby Green in September, only to be thwarted by injury.
But Hooker certainly isn’t complaining about the extended break, taking full advantage of the opportunity to rehabilitate a laundry list of niggles his body has accumulated over the years – meaning we may see the healthiest – and hungriest - version of Hooker yet when he makes the walk at RAC Arena on Sunday.
"It's been good," Hooker said of his extended absence.
"I guess it's not a bad thing to not get hit in the head for a year at this stage of my career, so I can't say I have any complaints, it's been a good amount of time.
"It's not like that was the only injury that I was kind of carrying. The body takes some knocks after nine years, so to take a year off and to just fully get the body back into shape and everything, that’s been a blessing in disguise."
The time off certainly hasn’t impacted Hooker's standing in the eyes of the matchmakers, who have served up a prime opportunity for the No.11 ranked lightweight to catapult back into the title sphere with the US-based Gamrot as his upcoming foil.
At this stage of his career, Hooker insists opponents are merely opponents just another name and a pay cheque. He's much more interested in the shiny number next to an opponent's name – and in this case it's a rather resplendent No. 5.
"I couldn't care less who I fought. I just like that nice little sexy number five he's got next to his name," admitted Hooker, who has clearly spent a ton of his time off at the tattoo studio.
"That's the thing that gets you guys excited at this level. Everyone's tough. Everyone's competitive. You want to beat the guys that put you in title contention and Gamrot is the guy that puts me back in the top five and back inside that shooting distance of the title."
In the eyes of the bookies, Hooker will be the clear-cut underdog against the hard-nosed Pole, who is riding a three-fight win streak into the contest and has become the kind of name his colleagues are trying to avoid.
The submission grappling ace has ensured his recent adversaries have had a miserable time sharing an Octagon with him. Gamrot is a relentless proposition to deal with, capable of suffocating fighters with his single-minded commitment to overpowering you with his wrestling. He's still the only man to have his hand raised against phenom Arman Tsarukyan, perhaps the best advertisement yet of the threat he poses.
But it's a familiar formula for Hooker, who's well accustomed to defending takedowns against fighters who are desperate to avoid having to engage in a fire fight with the striking guru.
In fact, Hooker has a very different interpretation as to what constitutes an ideally catered showdown for him.
"I've seen comments saying that it's a bad stylistic match up," he noted. "But if you if you break it down, I feel like fighting another striker is a bad stylistic match up. Because I know that me and him are going to stand there, we're going to blow each other's wigs off. I'm going to smash my feet to bits. I'm going to smash my shins to bits. I'm going to wreck my hands.
"I know that if I fight a tough striker, I'm just going to get into a war. Guys trying to grab a hold of me and take me to the ground is the most common style I've ever faced in my career, just because of how dangerous I am at length and my height and my understanding of range.
"I've dealt with this a million times. So from my perspective, this is the best stylistic match up I could possibly get. So I'm very happy with how the fight will play out."
Many have put the tactic to the test against Hooker but, as he points out, only one has genuinely had success with it – current lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, the Khabib Nurmagomedov protégé with one of the most irresistible grappling arsenal's the sport has seen.
And that was a bout Hooker prepared for during the height of New Zealand's COVID lockdown, where the punishment his garage was taking massively limited how much he was able to prepare.
"That's pretty much the only time I've been outgrappled, and that was level four lockdown in New Zealand and I did my training camp in my garage," Hooker laughed.
"I hadn't done jiu jitsu in two months in training camp because we were putting too many holes in my garage wall from doing grappling and we were smashing each other into the washing machine."
It's unclear how many washing machines were harmed in the build up to Hooker's bout with Gamrot, but he's adamant he won't be spending any time in 'Gamer's' spin cycle come Sunday.
SENZ's coverage of UFC 305 is brought to you by betcha - download the app and BET IT OUT! Please Bet Responsibly. R18.
