One of the youngest fighters on the UFC roster, Chase Hooper got back in the win column with a come from behind victory at UFC 256. However he does not much care for the idea that this win was a comeback, and he made those feelings quite clear.
Competing over the weekend, the young Hooper was coming off of his first professional defeat. Against Alex Cacares, Chase got dominated in the stand-up, and it seemed like this would be the case again when he was fighting Pete Barrett at UFC 256. However in the third round, the young BJJ standout would Imanari roll and work to finish the fight with a heel hook. It was a wild turn of events that saw Chase bounce back cleanly.
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Chase Hooper Fires Back At The Critics
Now as much as everyone said that this fight was a comeback win, Chase Hooper does not agree. Taking to Twitter, the usually jovial featherweight went off on the UFC commentators for what he said was biased commentary against his striking skills. Moreover he pointed to the actual statistics of the fight, which had him actually outstriking Barrett numerically.
“The craziest part for me about last weekend was everyone calling it a huge comeback finish. I feel like part of that was the commentary bias, along with the assumption that because I’m me, my striking is going to be worse than the other guy no matter what I do,” Hooper wrote.
“These are the numbers directly from @espn , and they show that I led number-wise in every category. Now not to say that I was winning, just that it was closer than everybody is saying. The two other factors that I believe also led to people thinking I was losing were that a). Peter had the leg kicks, which were excellent, and I should’ve been checking earlier. b). He had was the cage control because his style is more forward pressing and I was trying to use my length. Aside from those two things, at a minimum the rounds were close.
“I’m not saying I should’ve even won those rounds,” Hooper continued. “I just think that people are making it seem like it was this huge beating that I took, when I don’t have a scratch on me. I know I still have a lot to improve on, but I don’t think that I’m getting the credit for what I’ve fixed with my striking and defense since the last fight, and over my career as a whole. At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter because a win is a win, but I just felt like I needed to address it after watching the fight back myself both with and without commentary.”
These are the numbers directly from @espn, and they show that I led number-wise in every category. Now not to say that I was winning, just that it was closer than everybody is saying. The two other factors that I believe also led to people thinking I was losing were that
— Chase Hooper (@chase_hooper) December 15, 2020
I’m not saying I should’ve even won those rounds, I just think that people are making it seem like it was this huge beating that I took, when I don’t have a scratch on me. I know I still have a lot to improve on, but I don’t think that I’m getting the credit for what
— Chase Hooper (@chase_hooper) December 15, 2020
I’ve fixed with my striking and defense since the last fight, and over my career as a whole. At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter because a win is a win, but I just felt like I needed to address it after watching the fight back myself both with and without commentary.
— Chase Hooper (@chase_hooper) December 15, 2020
There are certainly some good points that Chase Hooper makes here, especially in terms of the improvements that he has made. The problem is that at such a young age, and with the margin or error and learning curve being so small in the UFC, he is still working on his game. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle, in that he did show improvements but still has a lot of work to do before he can even approach the elite featherweights in the world.
