Dan Hooker laughs at Dustin Poirier holding out for Conor McGregor: Take a 'real fight'
MELBOURNE, Australia – Dan Hooker is ready for main event fights and top-ranked opponents at lightweight after beating Al Iaquinta at UFC 243.
Hooker (19-8 MMA, 9-4 UFC) put on one of the finest performances of his career in a big spot on Saturday when he picked apart Iaquinta (14-6-1 MMA, 9-5 UFC) en route to a unanimous decision victory in the co-headliner at Marvel Stadium.
The win pushed Hooker to 6-1 since moving up to 155 pounds, and afterward he called out former interim champion Dustin Poirier, who promptly rejected the request on social media, indicating he is pursuing a fight with Conor McGregor (21-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC). That update amused “The Hangman.”
“He’s going to fight who?” Hooker told reporters, including MMA Junkie, with a laugh at the UFC 243 post-fight news conference. “If he wants to sit around chasing leprechauns, that’s his own problem. If he wants a real fight and he’ll take it, he knows where to find me.”
After beating Iaquinta on such a big stage, Hooker feels he’s deserving of something big. Whether it’s Poirier (25-6 MMA, 17-5 UFC) or another contender, he just wants an opportunity to move up and hopes it takes place on a main event stage.
Prior to the decision victory, Hooker had finished all of his UFC opponents inside the distance. He looked fresh after three rounds against Iaquinta and said fighting the type of fight he did was a tactical decision.
“I feel I’m a five-round fighter, so I wanted to take the full 15 minutes and really showcase it,” Hooker said. “I feel like if I had another two rounds I would’ve stopped him, for sure, with another 10 minutes in there. I was picking him apart and would’ve stopped him. I wanted to prove I’m ready for a five-round fight.
“You can’t just go blow these top-10 guys out of the water. These top-15 guys and unranked guys you can go out there and do this, but the skill level is so high you have to match that. I was out there. I wanted to prove I’m ready for a five-round fight, ready for a main event for 25 minutes.”
Despite Poirier rejecting his callout, Hooker said he still has hope the fight will happen. He’s looking to prove a point to his fellow lightweights, and part of that plan is to take out the same names as champion Khabib Nurmagomedov (28-0 MMA, 12-0 UFC).
“This is the No. 6-ranked guy in the world who went from a title fight two fights ago,” Hooker said. “That’s why Dustin is on my hit list. I wanted to follow Khabib’s last two fights. I want to fight Al Iaquinta and then I want to fight Dustin and take him out.”