Dan Hooker will be away from family for SEVEN WEEKS and ‘has to’ take out frustration on UFC new boy Michael Chandler
DAN HOOKER will be away from his family for SEVEN WEEKS to fight Michael Chandler – and plans to take out his frustration on the UFC new boy.
Hooker arrived on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi just over a week before he co-headlines UFC 257 against Chandler.
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Due to New Zealand’s strict coronavirus travel restrictions, the Aucklander had to book in advance a slot to fly back home.
But the earliest he will be able to return is four weeks after his fight, meaning the lightweight is without his daughter Zoey and wife Isabella for just under two months.
As a result Hooker warned Chandler – who will fight for the first time in the UFC – he is planning a brutal welcoming party for the newcomer.
The expert striker is still haunted from his last fight, when he was narrowly edged out in a five-round thriller against Dustin Poirer, who tops the bill at the weekend against Conor McGregor.
To avoid another excruciating and lonely quarantine full of regret, Hooker is adamant Chandler will bear the brunt of his sacrifice.
Asked if it will be Chandler he takes it out on, Hooker told SunSport: “It has to. Especially after the last fight being so close and not getting the result against Dustin.
“That feeling when you get back to New Zealand, being away from my family and not getting the win and being stuck in that quarantine by yourself, there’s a lot of time to reflect.
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“There’s a lot of time to feel it – it’s just you and the mirror for 14 days and I’m not doing that again.
“I promise you that, I’m not sitting in that room feeling sorry for myself. I’m coming back with the win.
“I’m backing myself 100 per cent.”
Hooker, 30, and Chandler, 34, fight with the lightweight title up in the air as Khabib Nurmagomedov, 32, still holds the crown, despite retiring in October.
UFC president Dana White confirmed Nurmagomedov WILL return for one final fight – but only if a lightweight contender impresses him enough to do so.
It puts Conor McGregor and Poirier, both 32, on red alert also.
But Hooker is armed with the knowledge he is one showstopping win away from leapfrogging his rivals and securing a legacy-defining fight with Khabib.
He said: “It’s an incredible sport where you can change your life in one fight.
“One moment, one piece of magic and you can really have the chance to change your life and get a massive fight.
“If you go out there and have a snoozefest and someone else goes out there and gets a quick knockout, he’s the guy who gets the opportunity.
“Everyone who follows this sport knows that, so you could be a quick finish away from fighting for the title.
“My eyes are firmly fixed on the title.”
Hooker was on a steady three-fight win streak when he was outpointed by Poirier in June, as they put on a show in front of the UFC’s empty Apex Center in Las Vegas.
But his run of facing UFC veterans will end on Saturday, when he is confronted with a new contender in Chandler.
The three-time Bellator champion is an unknown commodity with his new employers, but has made huge noise without yet debuting.
He was even on Fight Island in October as a potential replacement for Khabib or Justin Gaethje, 32, which would have given Chandler an immediate title shot.
That was when Hooker really took notice of the American grappler.
And now he plans to steal the limelight Chander’s arrival has garnered in a bid to accelerate his title pursuit.
Hooker said: “To have so much excitement behind him is what really drew me to the fight.
“People are so pumped to see him and myself. When he signed it was exciting to see how he would do in the UFC.
“It wasn’t until the UFC put him as the backup for the Gaethje – Khabib fight for the title that I was like now they’re putting him ahead of me and I’m interested in the fight.
“It’s good they’ve put so much stock into him and I want to take all that excitement, him being talked about for title contention, get the win and put myself back into title contention.
“With my style I tend to have exciting fights, I put on an exciting performance. It will put me back in the title conversation.”