"There's a reason you weren't fighting ranked opponents" - Arman Tsarukyan claps back at Dan Hooker's fight offer on Twitter

Dan Hooker wasn't fighting ranked opponents until his 11th UFC outing and Arman Tsarukyan has hinted at a possible reason for it.

Taking a dig at "The Hangman", Tsarukyan cited Hooker's 3-3 record in his first six UFC fights as the reason why he wasn't fighting ranked opponents. Commenting on Dan Hooker's staggering start with the promotion, Arman Tsarukyan wrote on Twitter:

"You were 3-3 on about to get cut before those four finishes, there's a reason you weren't fighting ranked opponents."

The exchange started after Tsarukyan's manager, Daniel Rubenstein, complained about the difficulty he had in finding opponents for his fighters. Accusing top-ranked opponents of dodging his fighters, Arman Tsarukyan and Rafael Filiev, Rubenstein wrote on Twitter:

"Truly amazing how hard it is to get @RafaelFiziev and @ArmanUfc fights. 1 “ranked" guy turned both down. Another ranked guy changing weight classes to not fight Arman. I get it, I wouldn’t want to fight either of them, but come on."

Dan Hooker immediately called Rubenstein out for cribbing and suggested that it might be too early for his fighters to be expecting ranked opposition. Hooker then suggested a matchup between both the fighters and offered to take on the winner.

He even joked about charging a 10% cut for coming up with the fights and wrote on Twitter:

"I had 4 stoppage wins in a row before I got a ranked opponent so go cry me a river. Here's an idea. Why don't they fight each other and I'll take the winner! And I'll take my 10% for doing your job for you."

Dan Hooker's next fight

Dan Hooker has suffered back-to-back losses in his last two UFC outings, which also included a violent first-round knockout loss to Michael Chandler at UFC 257. While the veteran Kiwi fighter was devastated in the immediate aftermath of his loss, he seems to be back on track again.

In a recent interview with Submission Radio, Dan Hooker expressed his desire to return to the Octagon and named Rafael Dos Anjos as a potential opponent. Dan Hooker told Submission Radio:

"I like the RDA fight, he's a former champ. I respect the skillset and the way he carries himself. The fight makes a little more sense if he can't get one of the bigger fights he's chasing to kind of take me up on this offer."