Dan Hooker fears that his hatred for Arman Tsarukyan could lead to their UFC Qatar fight being canceled.
This past Wednesday evening, UFC boss Dana White took to Instagram live to announce two big upcoming fights for the promotion’s first ever event in Doha, Qatar.
The UFC boss announced that headlining the event will be a lightweight contender fight between number two ranked Arman Tsarukyan and number six ranked Dan Hooker.
The lightweight booking came as somewhat of a shock considering the fact that Tsarukyan was widely being backed as the next title challenger.
Hooker fears his fight with Tsarukyan could fall through if one thing happens
‘Hangman’ Hooker is riding an impressive three fight win streak and has earned himself a shot against a top ranked opponent again.
‘Ahalkalakets’ on the other hand hasn’t lost since he fought Mateusz Gamrot in 2022, and he has continued to showcase why he likely should be fighting for the title.
Over the last few years, Hooker and the Armenian have been locked into quite a bitter rivalry, constantly trading barbs with each other online.
And with their feud at an all time high, Hooker fears that his scheduled fight against Tsarukyan on November 22 could end up being called off if one thing happens.
“If he comes in arms range of me (during the build up), I’m gonna hit him,” Hooker told Submission Radio.
“That’s the long and short of it, and the fights gonna be off, I don’t care about that. That’s what I’m saying, if you put me near the guy, the fights off, and I feel like he feels the exact same way.
“If you put me near the guy I’m gonna try to hit him and throw s— at him and p— him off…. The UFC wants this fight to happen so it’s on them to keep us away from each other,” Hooker continued.
Hooker on who he wants to fight after Tsarukyan fight
It’s fair to say that with a win over the 28-year-old, Hooker could somehow secure himself the next shot at the lightweight title, which is currently held by Ilia Topuria.
However, ‘Hangman’ has stated that if the undisputed title is tied up, he would be interested in a clash against Max Holloway for the BMF title.
“If the undisputed title is busy, that Max fight, I’d like that BMF title shot too,” Hooker claimed.