- Arnold Allen spoiled Dan Hooker’s featherweight return with a highlight-worthy TKO finish
- Hooker’s team had doubts about his drop down to 145 pounds
Dan Hooker didn’t have the featherweight return he wanted. In fact, it didn’t even last long as Arnold Allen needed just two and a half minutes to get the finish of Hooker. ‘Hangman’ couldn’t hang with him for long as Allen swarmed him in a slugfest.
In the wake of Hooker’s defeat, his drastic weight-cut has become a hot subject of discussion.
Hooker doesn’t belong at featherweight
Allen came in well aware of what Hooker is capable of. As much as “Almighty” is thrilled to have finished “The Hangman,” he also thinks it would be best for Hooker to go back up at lightweight.
“I personally didn’t think it was the best choice,” Allen said of Hooker post-fight. “If anything, someone like that, going up [in weight] maybe again would be a good idea, but he knows his body, he knows how he feels.
“But yeah, I think his best work’s at lightweight. Not a knock at him or anything obviously, but I don’t think making that extra cut is a good choice.”
“The Hangman” had been warned
Hooker decided to return to featherweight in the hope to end his skid in the 155-pound division. However, his City Kickboxing team was not confident about his decision.
According to Hooker’s trainer and City Kickboxing founder Eugene Bareman, they were concerned about the extreme weight-cutting but “The Hangman” was able to convince them in the end.
“The truth is the coaches weren’t in favor of it,” Bareman told The MMA Hour of Hooker’s featherweight return last month. “I’m not sure if he said that. He wanted to do a ’45 move a few fights ago. And we expressed our concerns. And then even for this [upcoming] fight, we said, ‘Look, if you get the proper testing – and you can prove to us that with all the new technology and all the new knowledge that we have around dieting and making weight – you can prove to us that you can perform at 145, then we’ll back you’.”
“And he did some very rigorous testing at the [UFC] PI [Performance Institute],” he continued. “And, lo and behold, he aced it.”
As it stands, Hooker has now lost four of his last five fights. Three of which were first-round finishes.
What’s Next For Allen?
As for Arnold Allen, he’ll look to fight Calvin Kattar next. He’d drop the name of the fellow contender following his win over Hooker.
“I want to be in the top five and I think he’s top five, and that’s the fight to put me there,” Allen continued. “And we got offered that fight for a main event spot last year, or earlier in the year I think, but I was out with injury.
“I think [stylistically] that works really good. He’s less tall than this guy [Hooker], so that works out. But yeah, he’s predominantly a boxer, I’m predominantly a boxer, so it’s fan friendly fight and I think I’m the better boxer.”
