Dan Hooker is urging Islam Makhachev to accept his offer to make their bout five rounds.
Hooker and Makhachev will be sharing the Octagon this Saturday (Oct. 30). The lightweight tilt will be featured on the main card of UFC 267. Hooker has stepped up after Rafael dos Anjos was forced out of the bout with Makhachev due to an injury.
Dan Hooker Talks Wanting To Go Five Rounds With Islam Makhachev
“The Hangman” recently took to his Twitter account and laid down the challenge to make his UFC 267 scrap five rounds.
Let's make it 5 rounds? 👊
— Dan Hangman Hooker (@danthehangman) October 22, 2021
During a chat with the folks at Submission Radio, Dan Hooker explained why he has the urge to compete in a five-rounder.
“Let’s do it. I just feel good, man. I just feel good. I feel like there was a couple of really hard weeks getting back into it, getting back into the swing of things. By that, I mean getting the rounds in, with the body getting the sparring in, getting the wrestling in, wrestling every day, conditioning every second day, and it was a real grind there for a couple of weeks. Then that last week just, ‘Come on, man.’ It just felt good, felt like the fitness was there. Wrestling for 45 minutes straight and feeling good, feeling sharp, feeling fresh, feeling like everything was technically there. I feel like a five-rounder. I just finished one of the last hard sessions of my camp and I’m feeling like a five-rounder. If we can make that happen, then I’m 100 percent in.”
Makhachev Responds, Hooker Fires Back
Makhachev is aware of Hooker’s tweet and he issued the following response.
It’s worse for you https://t.co/P02zEv67iw
— Makhachev Islam (@MAKHACHEVMMA) October 23, 2021
Hooker has seen the reply and he takes it as a sign that Makhachev is willing to make it happen.
“That’s a yes! That sounds good to me. That’s a yes, that’s him calling my bluff and me going all in. That’s me backing my hand and going all in. If that’s his response then let’s do it. What’s the holdup? Let’s make it five rounds.”
Will The Fight Look Different In Five Rounds? Hooker Couldn’t Care Less
When asked about a potential change in the game plan if his fight with Makhachev is changed to five rounds, Hooker made it clear that it doesn’t matter to him.
“I don’t care, I don’t care. I just feel like I’m the better fighter and the longer period of time you get to show that or you get to prove that, then that’s better. That’s why these main events are five rounds, that’s why they’re not three rounds, that’s why championship fights are five rounds and not three rounds. The only thing that separates the better fighter is time. That’s the only thing that can separate, ya know if you just picked someone off the street and throw him in the Octagon and gave the fight 10 seconds, well who knows? You put him in with the best fighter in the world, you make the fight five seconds, who knows?”
UFC 267 will feature two title fights. In the main event, Jan Blachowicz will put his UFC Light Heavyweight Title on the line against Glover Teixeira. Petr Yan and Corey Sandhagen will meet for the interim UFC Bantamweight Championship in the co-headliner.
