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Dan Hooker seems to have no love lost for Edson Barboza after having fought years back.
'The Hangman' touched on this when previewing preliminary bouts for UFC 300 with Israel Adesanya on the latter's FREESTYLEBENDER YouTube channel. Barboza is coming off a win over Sodiq Yusuff last October as Yusuff readies to fight Diego Lopes on April 13 for the company's 300th numbered event.
Speaking about his former adversary who next competes on May 18 vs Lerone Murphy, Hooker said:
"Man, all I want to say is f*** Edson Barboza. If he ever wants [laughs]. If that scumbag ever wants to fight again, I'll kick his f****** chin off. So I'm going with Sodiq. Every comment online I message him, f*** y'all [laughs]."
When asked by the off-camera show producer if Barboza replies to the comments and DM's, Hooker said:
"Nah, every now and then, yeah. Nah, like he'll comment on something and I'll be like man, f*** your face. Nah, he like put up a little video and he's just like smashing me up and I was just like, 'Yo, want to run it back, p****?'"
"Nah, he' s been a featherweight for ages. But yeah, hey, if you want to come back to lightweight, I'll f****** knock your teeth out. Bro, I hate him. Because he beat the s*** out of me, bro [laughs]."
Check out Dan Hooker discussing a potential second Edson Barboza bout at the 1:45 mark below:
Dan Hooker and his first fight against Edson Barboza
With some discourse out there about a possible rematch down the line, it seems fitting to look back on the initial Hooker vs Barboza bout.
The 34-year-old clashed with Barboza in December 2018 at UFC on FOX 31. The Dan Hooker versus Edson Barboza fight served as the co-main event that night and was positioned just underneath Kevin Lee vs Al Iaquinta II.
The native of New Zealand was felled by a body punch from the dangerous Brazilian striker almost halfway through the final round of their bout. Barboza improved to 20-6 while Hooker fell to 17-8 after their lightweight scrap.
Fast forwarding to the present day, both men have back-to-back wins albeit in different divisions. But never say never in the world of mixed martial arts, and that can apply to these two exciting fighters having a sequel clash someday.
