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Dan Hooker has suggested that his upcoming fight against Islam Makhachev could be a number-one contender matchup. Hooker indicated that he could face either Charles Oliveira or Dustin Poirier for the UFC lightweight title next, provided that he beats Makhachev.
In an interview with The Mac Life, ‘The Hangman’ opened up on multiple topics. Dan Hooker notably indicated that he’s confident about possibly fighting for the UFC lightweight title in the near future. Upon being asked what he plans to do if he defeats Makhachev at UFC 267, Hooker stated:
“Just the feeling I get off of it is they (the UFC) are so desperate on getting Islam this fight ‘cause they’re trying to like – obviously, Dubai and that, there’s a huge fan base there. But they’re trying to get him to the title, right? And you can’t have a title eliminator and only like if one of the guys wins, (he gets the title shot); then it’s not a title eliminator. And it’s just something else, you know what I mean? So, I feel like this is a title eliminator. I feel like with a dominant showing here, you’d definitely line yourself up for the belt.”
Speaking about his fight vs. Makhachev being a number-one contender's match, 'The Hangman' continued:
“Besides that, it’ll be like between us or (Michael) Chandler and (Justin) Gaethje. Like, that’s the only two logical next fights for whoever (is the UFC lightweight champion). It comes down to whoever puts on the best performance out of those two fights, I feel, falls into the title.”
Dan Hooker mentioned the highly anticipated lightweight bout between Michael Chandler and Justin Gaethje, set to take place at UFC 268 on November 6th, 2021. Hooker believes that the winner of his fight against Makhachev or the winner of the Chandler-Gaethje matchup could be given a UFC lightweight title shot.
Dan Hooker aims to win UFC gold, whereas Charles Oliveira defends his throne against Dustin Poirier
Charles Oliveira currently holds the UFC lightweight title. The veteran Brazilian fighter is expected to defend his belt against former interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier at UFC 269 on December 11th, 2021.
As insinuated by Dan Hooker’s statements, he believes that a dominant win over Islam Makhachev at UFC 267 could earn him a shot at the winner of the Oliveira-Poirier matchup. Regardless, before a potential title shot, Hooker would first have to get past Makhachev, who is one of the hottest fighters in the UFC today.
