Dan Hooker is looking to hit the ground running on his return to featherweight, by defeating one of the top in-form contenders in the division at UFC London.
New Zealand’s Hooker is all set to face in-form Englishman Arnold Allen in the co-main event at UFC London, where the lightweight mainstay will look to reinvent himself as a bonafide featherweight contender by halting Allen’s eight-fight win streak.
Before he gets to throw hands with Allen inside the octagon, Hooker’s first challenge will see him face the scale with the featherweight limit of 146 pounds looming large.
But, despite much pre-fight chatter in the media about his drop in weight class, Hooker said his biggest challenge so far has been dealing with the timezone change.
“Weight cut easy, jetlag hard. That’s all I have to say about that!” he laughed when chatting to the press at UFC London media day.
“I’m getting progressively less jetlag, so I’m feeling I’m getting closer to the weigh in, and I’m feeling better and better. But yeah, the weight’s in the back of my mind (but) that’s easy work.”
Hooker seems relaxed and confident about hitting 146 pounds at Friday’s official weigh-ins, but he admitted he understands why some may be concerned about him dropping down a weight class at this stage in his career.
However, he said the decision was a scientific one, backed by the assistance of the staff at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas.
“I can definitely understand that (concern),” he said.
“People don’t see all of the stuff behind the scenes that’s gone into it. The working with these professionals and the scans and the evaluations and the discussions.
“I’m working with the best guys in the world. You know, my fight dietician, my dietitian back home, Charles and Clint at the UFC Performance Institute – these guys are, hands down, the best in the world in this particular field. So I’ve taken their advice. This is 100 percent with their assistance and with their guidance, so it’s going to be as seamless as possible.”
Once the weigh-in challenges are dealt with, there’s the significant challenge of facing Allen, who is on a tear and competing on home soil.
Hooker said Allen’s winning run demands respect, but also said he hopes to use that divisional relevance to catapult his own career at 145 pounds.
“He’s on an eight-fight win streak … that’s only Max Holloway that’s ahead of him.,” he said.
“So you’d have to say an eight-fight win streak puts him up there. He’s (got) the second-longest win streak in featherweight history, so that has to be respected. He just hasn’t had that name.
“The guys that he’s beaten have obviously been world-class and incredibly talented, but they just didn’t have that drawing power. So it’s a win-win situation for the UFC.
“Either they get a guy on a win streak that beat someone with some name value, or they get a guy with some name value who… I’m taking their win streak.
“So, after this, I’m going to be on a nine-fight win streak. So I’m excited to move on to the future on my nine-fight win streak.”
