Dan Hooker expects to receive a UFC lightweight title shot if he beats Dustin Poirier and feels Conor McGregor won’t cut in line.
On June 27, Hooker will share the Octagon with former interim UFC lightweight champion Poirier. This is considered to be the biggest fight in Hooker’s pro MMA career. Going into the bout, “The Hangman” is the number five-ranked UFC lightweight, while “The Diamond” holds the number three spot. Hooker vs. Poirier will serve as the main event for UFC on ESPN 12.
Dan Hooker Doesn’t Think Conor McGregor Jumps Ahead Of Him
While Hooker would appear to be deserving of a shot at the winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje if he gets past Poirier, McGregor is always an option. The “Notorious” one’s drawing power is simply too great for the UFC to ignore and he may very well end up fighting the winner of Nurmagomedov vs. Gaethje instead. Hooker told MMAFighting.com that he doesn’t believe the UFC will let McGregor jump the line.
“That fight is set, Gaethje and Khabib – that fight is going to happen in September, and I’m the next guy in line,” Hooker explained when speaking to MMA Fighting. “That will be a four-fight streak over the No. 3, No. 6, No. 6 and another ranked fighter. Those are top-ranked guys.
“The next guy in line would be Conor McGregor, who looking back at it now, has a win over the No. 12 [ranked fighter] in the division. So when you compare resumes, it would be pretty difficult to hand him a title shot over me without me kicking up a fuss.”
Hooker went on to say that he feels it wouldn’t make sense for the UFC to bend to McGregor. He believes the promotion is known for standing its ground and will do so if McGregor demands the winner of Nurmagomedov vs. Gaethje. He mentioned how the UFC didn’t cave into Jorge Masvidal’s demands and ended up giving the next UFC welterweight title shot to Gilbert Burns.
