Dan Hooker stepped up to fight the lightweight boogeyman, Islam Makhachev, on short notice, but he is supremely confident.
It seems like practically nobody wants to fight Makhachev except Hooker, who has called out the Dagestani prospect for a while. It still came as a shock when it was revealed that Dan stepped up on short notice to replace Rafael Dos Anjos and fight Islam at UFC 267, just one month after beating Nasrat Haqparast at UFC 266.
Speaking to The Mac Life ahead of this fight, “The Hangman” made it clear that he is not intimidated by the hype surrounding the Khabib Nurmagomedov protege. He made it clear that he knows how skilled Islam is, but he is not invincible.
“A bit of the Khabib mystique has rubbed off on him, and his last few performances have been pretty dominant. Like I’ve trained with Drew (Dober), and the way he fought Drew was pretty decisive. Even his last fight, like he came out there and (it) was a pretty dominant fight,” Hooker said.
“So there’s definite skill there… but I would love to be the first one to get out there and just make him look human. I know we all are, that’s the funny thing about it. People can say whatever they’re going to say, like ‘Oh, this guy’s unbeatable, this guy’s untouchable.’ I’ve been in the gym with these guys, they all bleed, they all get tired, they all get injured, they all get hurt. I know I can put anyone’s lights out.
“To everyone else, he’s kind of a mysterious character that’s got a lot of mystique and invincibility. To me, he’s just another body,” Hooker added.
It is undeniable that Dan Hooker has the most amount of confidence heading into this UFC 267 bout with Islam Makhachev. Then again, you have to be confident to make that quick of a turnaround.
