Dan Hooker: Seeing Israel Adesanya, Alexander Volkanovski with UFC belts makes it very attainable for me
City Kickboxing’s recent success has inspired Dan Hooker.
Hooker (20-8 MMA, 10-4 UFC) was one of the first staples of the New Zealand MMA scene to make it to the UFC and now finds himself potentially a fight or two away from title contention.
He is currently projected to face former UFC interim lightweight title challenger Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC San Diego in what would be his second straight headliner.
And while his own stock is on the rise, Hooker said watching teammates Israel Adesanya, the reigning UFC middleweight champion and Alexander Volkanovski, the current UFC featherweight champion, rise to the occasion gives him confidence that he is ever-so-close to his ultimate goal.
“Now I have two teammates, I have Alex Volkanovski and Israel Adesanya, walking around the gym with world title belts, and that makes it very attainable for me,” Hooker told MMA Junkie. “I know what I’m capable of inside the gym and my results inside of the octagon. I know that I can compete and beat the best guys in the world, so I just need the opportunity. So now, No. 5, I’m working my way towards that belt. You’re putting yourself and you’re now jockeying for position for title contention, and title contention is the next goal that I’ve set myself.”
Hooker, who’s won seven of his last eight, is coming off a five-round battle last month in Auckland, edging out Paul Felder in a “Fight of the Night” effort.
He’s called his shot before when he previously asked fort Felder, and it appears will get his wish once more with Poirier, as he continues to map out his next step one fight at a time.
“Me, like I’m a realist,” Hooker said. “Israel Adesanya is known from day one that he was going to be world champion, he’s going to be headlining pay-per-views but me, it’s whatever I can see in front of me is the next biggest goal. As I achieve those goals, I set something else in front of me, so my progression has always been incremental and very slow.”
Check out the full interview with Hooker in the video above.
