After Dan Hooker scored his third straight win Saturday night (Feb. 22, 2020), defeating Paul Felder in a bloody back-and-forth brawl (see it again here) at UFC Fight Night 167 in Auckland, New Zealand, “Hangman” made sure not to allow his time on the mic go to waste.
Indeed, Hooker took the opportunity to call out No-4-ranked Justin Gaethje for a fight. “The Highlight,” though, hasn’t responded to the challenge, leading Hooker to believe that perhaps he may be too busy to take the fight.
That’s the reason he has a back up plan, informing fight fans (via Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show) that he’d settle for a showdown opposite former Lightweight title contender, Dustin Poirier.
“If Gaethje is busy, then Poirier is the man,” he said. “Either Gaethje or Poirier, those are the only two options that make sense for me.”
This isn’t the first time Hooker has called for a showdown against “The Diamond,” taking to the mic during his post-fight speech at UFC 243 to initially lay down the gauntlet. Poirier, though, was quick to shoot him down, saying he was holding out for a fight against Conor McGregor and stating that while Hooker may be on a roll, he wasn’t up to his level.
That being said, Hooker has now won seven of his last eight, and his win over Felder should be enough to catapult him into the Top 5. Poirier and Gaethje, meanwhile, are sitting at No. 2 and No. 4, respectively.
The problem is, Hooker isn’t the only man who has his eyes set on Poirier, as Al Iaquinta recently challenged “The Diamond” to fisticuffs. Poirier didn’t completely shoot him down, saying that he’d take the fight as long as it went down at Welterweight and it came with a big bag of cash.
You know the players, so who do you want to see face each other next? We have our suggestions right here.
Get the latest gear
