Dan Hooker was not remotely entertained watching Islam Makhachev prevail in his first main event.
Makhachev (20-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) picked up a fourth-round submission of Thiago Moises at UFC on ESPN 26 on Saturday, extending his winning streak to eight in a row.
While the vast majority were impressed by Makhachev’s continuous dominance, Hooker (20-10 MMA, 10-6 UFC) said he had a hard time getting through the fight.
“I kind of was watching and on fast forward,” Hooker told “Submission Radio.” “I got bored. So, I can’t really… like, yeah. It kind of is what it is.”
Makhachev was rather dismissive of “The Hangman” prior to the fight, taking shots at his recent run in the UFC. Hooker has had to listen to Makhachev and his loyal army of fans accuse him of ducking a fight, but now that he’s expressed interest in facing him, it’s the Russian who’s semingly not interested.
“I started chiming in and having a go because (Paul) Felder said it when he retired,” Hooker said. “He’s like, ‘Oh man, I’m sick of these guys saying I’m a chicken, saying I’m things.’ I had to put up with the same thing. Coming into the main event of UFC Auckland, and I knew Felder was going to be the fight, and then Islam starts chiming in. So, I started having a bit of banter with him, saying that I would have to give away tickets to the event in the car park of Pak’nSave if I got booked with Islam Makhachev. So, I can’t say I regret not going out of my way to fight Islam, to put on a five-round war in my hometown with Paul Felder, and if it would’ve been anything like he performed in his main event, that’s not the style of fight that the Kiwi fans want to see. They want to see two blokes go out there and really challenge themselves and see who’s better.
“Yeah, like I said, I kind of got bored watching his main event in fast forward, so,I couldn’t imagine watching the damn thing live in my hometown. I think there would have been a bloody riot after the fight. And then after that one, DC says, ‘Oh yeah, that fight makes sense.’ I already caught wind that I was going to fight Dustin Poirier. So, he’s gonna say that I avoided fighting Islam Makhachev for the easy option of Dustin Poirier? I think if you said that you’d be insane. So, it is what it is. I had to put up with the chicken talk when the fight didn’t make sense for me, now the fight doesn’t make sense for him. Give him a little nudge in the ribs.”
Though Makhachev is honored to be compared to his good friend and mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov, Hooker was critical of his lack of originality when calling out top opposition.
“You see scrolling past and seeing on like build-up videos of him saying everyone’s scared, everyone’s scared to fight him, oh, the whole division’s shook,” Hooker said. “Bro, you’re just copying your mate’s homework. Give your mate’s homework back and come up with something for yourself, son.”
He continued, “He’s on a good streak at the moment, but I believe he’s been knocked out in the UFC before. So then him copying Khabib’s homework and saying all this wild stuff when you’ve been laid flat in the octagon, it doesn’t really have the same ring to it as an undefeated fighter.”
Following his win over Moises, Makhachev turned his attention to former UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson, who never got to settle his differences with Nurmagomedov. However, Ferguson is enduring the roughest stretch of his career having dropped three straight, which Hooker thinks makes Makhachev’s callout ironic.
“Oh, it’s just funny,” Hooker said. “Like, I don’t really care. I don’t really take it too seriously. Like, it’s just a bunch of banter to me. But if you dish it out, you better be able to take it. So, his reason (for not fighting me is) that I’m like three losses in my last six fights. And then in the same breath he calls out Tony Ferguson, who’s lost three in a row, so that makes about as much sense as sh-tting in a swimming pool. So, I don’t know what he’s on about.”
He continued, “He just beat No. 15, and then guys in the top five are supposed to be howling his name and taking the fight? I think Dominick Cruz said it. He’s like, ‘What, so everyone else that is ranked lower than me, and calls me out, I’m a p-ssy for turning down the fight?’ He’s like, ‘Well then, I’m a p-ssy every day of the week.’ Yeah, I have to find that interview of Dominick Cruz, but it just is what it is. It just doesn’t make sense for those guys to go out there with the notation that everyone’s afraid of them. I truly believe like no one in that top 15 is afraid to fight anyone else in the top 15. It just doesn’t make sense. Everyone is afraid of someone? You watch them get the belt, and then no one turns a fight down. Everyone’s positioning themselves to be champion, and that’s just what it is.”
Dan Hooker ‘got bored’ watching Islam Makhachev ‘on fast forward’ at UFC on ESPN 26
