Dan Hooker is ready to push Islam Makhachev to his absolute limits.
Hooker proved his toughness for the rest of eternity by turning around after beating Nasrat Haqparast a month earlier, so he can fight to fight the boogeyman of the lightweight division and Khabib protege Makhachev. This is a man that seemingly no one wants to fight, so for “The Hangman” to agree to replace a withdrawing Rafael Dos Anjos, while giving up the ability to return to New Zealand, is without a doubt gangster stuff.
However, just in case you were still unsure about how tough he is or his willingness to accept a challenge, Hooker has decided to up the ante. Posting to his Twitter, he issued a challenger the to Makhachev, trying to turn their UFC 267 featured bout into a five round fight, following the likes of the Diaz brothers, who have set a precedent for these kinds of things.
“Let’s make it 5 rounds? ?” Hooker wrote.
It is hard to know if the UFC would be willing to go for this notion, as there are only two fights in UFC history that have been five-round, non-title bouts, and they both involved a Diaz brother. Nevertheless, you have to absolutely respect Dan Hooker for calling for this to happen, especially against an opponent like Islam Makhachev. And if the promotion does decide to make it happen, it would make the fight significantly closer.
Do you want to see Hooker vs Makhachev turn into a five-round fight? Or is it better served as a three-round contest?
