New Zealand’s own Dan ‘The Hangman’ Hooker celebrates 10 violent years in the UFC, with the CKB team putting together an outstanding documentary on his MMA career to date.
From his countless bloody battles and face-to-face callout of Paul Felder, all the way to captaining the CKB team and the hilarious ‘Pub Talk’ series with Oscar Willis, there are so many reasons why UFC fans love Dan Hooker.
Yet it’s now been 10 years since we first saw ‘The Hangman’ tightening his noose, and it’s safe to say that both his fellow fighters and coaches are incredibly thankful for the way Hooker paved the way for CKB’s success.
Dan Hooker celebrates 10 years in the UFC ahead of return fight in Perth
It’s been 10 years since Daniel Preston Hooker first stepped into the UFC octagon and over the past decade, not only has ‘The Hangman’ helped put New Zealand on the MMA map, but he’s delivered some of the lightweight division’s most brutal moments.
21 fights in the promotion, 13 wins, nine finishes including seven by way of KO/TKO, and five post-fight bonuses to boot – yet it’s the resume of opponents he’s faced that often gets overlooked the most.
To name but a few: Yair Rodriguez, Jim Miller, Gilbert Burns, Edson Barboza, James Vick, Al Iaquinta, Paul Felder, Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler, Jailin Turner, Arnold Allen, and Islam Makhachev – quite frankly, there aren’t too many resumes better than Hangman’s.
This week, to celebrate his 10-year anniversary in the UFC, Sky Sport New Zealand brought together various members of the City Kickboxing Team to watch some of Hooker’s best moments in the octagon – this is what his teammates had to say.
Speaking on what it was like watching Hooker put on a show in front of the Auckland faithful, Israel Adesanya shared how that was the moment he knew it wasn’t enough to control a fight, but how to control an entire arena of screaming fans.
“I knew exactly where I wanted to be, exactly what I wanted to do in life and to see Dan go in there and effortlessly make it look easy and handle the situation like ‘I’m the man’ – he was the man, and he paved the way.”
Flyweight contender Kai Kara-France shared that Hooker is “someone [who] I’ve always looked up to and one of the reasons why he’s one of the fan-favorites is just his whole style.
“From his debut, you can see how much grit and determination he has to win – he doesn’t care if you break his foot, he’s still coming forward and you have to pretty much kill him to beat him.”
Former featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski also chimed in towards the end of the documentary, teasing that whilst Hooker has already had a legendary career, it’s far from over.
“Dan ‘The Hangman’ Hooker, what’s happening my man. 10 years in the UFC, that’s impressive my man and 10 more to go! You’re a hard man and many more years to go so congratulations on a great feat.”
Whilst another 10 years might be a little out of the question, Hooker is set to return to action next weekend at UFC 305 to face Polish wrestler, Mateusz Gamrot.
CKB coach Eugene Bareman thanks Hooker for his ‘lightbulb moment’
Out of all the compliments sent Hooker’s way, undoubtedly the most valuable came from coach Eugene Bareman, who argued that The Hangman’s entrance to the UFC was “the beginning of everything, that’s where it all started.
“You saw Dan create a pathway and people started to think, if Dan’s doing that then why can’t we follow in his footsteps? That was the spark everybody who came after needed.
“My memory that sticks out was the day he asked me and my team to coach him, just the feeling of responsibility that I felt and as well as the excitement, then that whole journey was me and my team’s first foray to that level of competition.”
When Bareman came on board, it was at a turbulent time in Hooker’s fledging career as he dropped a unanimous decision to Yair Rodriguez in just his fourth fight in the promotion; making him 2-2 in the UFC.
Yet the veteran coach credits this exact moment for giving him his ‘lightbulb moment’ – one that would eventually end in world title success, sadly not for Hooker, but for those teammates around him.
“I’m so thankful for that experience because what I got out of that, was that I knew that my fighters and my team back home in New Zealand could compete at that level and do some special things.
“That was the lightbulb moment for me, where I knew that I had to come back and put some serious work in because I can do it while I’m still here with the fighters that I had.”
Of course, the documentary couldn’t help but switch back to Hooker’s reaction at this point, who simply flexed for the camera and poignantly yelled: “Yeah baby, I’m a crash test dummy baby! I’m a professional crash test dummy!
“Ey, I’m happy to do it, make everyone else’s life easier – if I could save my teammates, friends a little bit of time and little bit of blood then I’m more than happy to.”
Never change Dan Hooker, never change.