UFC fan favorite admits regret after claiming he 'sold his title shot' for money
01/10/2025 05:03 AM
There aren't many active UFC fighters who are more popular than Dan 'The Hangman' Hooker, whose recent career resurgence remains one of the 'feel good' stories of late in MMA.
After a turbulent few years, the popular Kiwi is back where he belongs, in the upper echelon of the lightweight division, although he did recently admit that one mistake meant he 'sold his title shot' for money.
UFC lightweight Dan Hooker admits he 'sold his title shot' for money
Between 2018 and 2021, Dan 'The Hangman' Hooker fought Gilbert Burns, Paul Felder, Edson Barboza, Al Iaquinta, Michael Chandler, Dustin Poirier, and Islam Makhachev – a truly insane resume for such a short time span.
Yet it's that final bout in 2021 that remains a sore spot for the Kiwi, who opted to face the future lightweight champion in Abu Dhabi despite being on the shortlist for the next title shot.
"It's just different stages of your career, like at that stage of my career I just wanted money," admitted Hooker in an interview with David Adesanya, noting that the promotion 'capitalized' on his desire for a bigger purse – at the expense of his shot at gold.
"They capitalized on that, and I sold my title shot. At the end of the day, that's what it came down to… I just wanted money, then I got money, and I was like 'Well this isn't cool, I want a world title' – [and] you can't trade money for a world title at the end of the day."
Hooker, who has been a UFC fighter for over 10 years, explained how the mindset of top fighters changes, and must change, as their career progresses; or risk losing out on the same opportunities that he did.
"It's like you've got to constantly set yourself new goals… Early on in your career, you say, 'I want to be a UFC fighter' and then you become a UFC fighter and you're like 'Well this isn't it, I want to be a ranked UFC fighter' – and then you become ranked, but you want more.
"You say, 'I want to be a main event fighter', and then you win a main event – you go 'Well this is s*** as well, I want something else'… Constantly, once you achieve a goal, you have to have [another one]."
Hooker cracked a wry smile as he acknowledged that "it's chasing the goal that's the actual fun part" – so what 'fun' does Dan Hooker have planned for 2025?
Dan Hooker believes he's frontrunner for Conor McGregor's UFC return
Following his fantastic win over Mateusz Gamrot in August and his jump up in the rankings to #6, Hooker's next fight "has to be something big," especially given how he's one of the few active lightweights on a winning streak.
"All of the guys in the Top five ahead of me are coming off a loss and when you're on a win streak, fights become available… The only names I've heard from the UFC are all upwards so for me to look backwards at this time, that would be silly.
"You have to think that's some kind of title, whether that's BMF or [undisputed]," teased Hooker, although he's also recently noted that he's also the 'frontrunner' to be Conor McGregor's return opponent.
Speaking with The New Zealand Herald a few days prior, Hooker stated "I'm very aware Conor was given a heads-up of the situation he was in," adding that "at the moment, I'd probably be the frontrunner.
"For him to fight Michael Chandler doesn't really make any sense. The guy's coming off a number of losses and is still a dangerous, athletic heavy puncher. Then also, Conor's going through a lot of stuff behind the scenes right now.
"To think that he would fight a guy that he has genuine animosity with at this time and to have all your dirty laundry all over the headline for a whole camp – it's probably not that."
Hooker and McGregor share some common friends, including The Mac Life's Oscar Willis, with the Kiwi suggesting that he's "not a fighter [who] would go out of my way to air anybody's dirty laundry."
Who would you like to see Hooker in there with next, would you take a BMF title fight against Max Holloway, or the purse that comes with Notorious' long-awaited return?
