The Front Nine with Dan Hooker: UFC star on what’s next after career resurgence, sparring IShowSpeed, and potential of Conor McGregor fight

After climbing his way back into the top tier of the UFC’s lightweight division, Dan Hooker hits the greens at Maungakiekie Golf Club with Christopher Reive to reflect on his resurgence and what moves he might make next.

Dan Hooker is going to be smarter this time.

To be more specific, the sixth-ranked UFC lightweight isn’t going to “do anything dumb” now he’s back well inside the top 10 of the division.

It’s something the 34-year-old mentions on more than one occasion as we conduct an interview before an 11.06am tee time on a scorching Tuesday morning in late December at Maungakiekie Golf Club in the Auckland suburb of Mt Roskill.

At a time of the year when reflection is often front and centre, Hooker has plenty in the chamber.

Not all that long ago, people were talking about Hooker, now a 10-year UFC veteran, as though his career was on its last legs after a string of losses against fighters at the top end of the division.

He ended 2024 with the second-highest ranking of his UFC career – and big plans for the near future.

“Last time I was in the top five, I just made some pretty silly errors,” Hooker says.

“This time I’m this close to the [top], you know; three-fight win streak, number six in the division – just ‘don’t do anything stupid’ is the name of the game.

“It’s just things move slowly at the top, so the key to this is to just stay patient and not do anything dumb, really.”

Approached for photos by a couple of fans at the club, Hooker happily obliges before we make our way to the first tee – a 327m downhill par-four. Before we get under way, I provide two pathways to allow Hooker to choose his own adventure.

Dan Hooker poses for a photo with a fan at Maungakiekie Golf Club. Photo / Dean Purcell

Future editions of this column might feature a competitive match-play element, but Hooker – not a regular golfer – opts for the social option of best ball. Neither of us find the fairway off the tee and battle our way to a double-bogey six.

“I can’t believe you invited me. I’d probably do better at hiffing these balls with my hands than hitting them with a golf club but, hey, trying new things.”

In this age of high content consumption, Hooker is willing to do his part – though that generally doesn’t involve branching quite so far out of his comfort zone.

Most recently, he was challenged by big-time YouTube streamer IShowSpeed (real name Darren Watkins Jr) to an MMA sparring match in a video that went viral online – partly because Hooker has no ‘take it easy’ setting and tenderised the 19-year-old American with body shots.

“He’s a mad guy. Like, he came in and just wanted to fight; didn’t want to learn anything, he just wanted to fight. But then you see him half an hour later at the Warriors trying to run it straight head-to-head with professional league players. It’s just that generation of fast-paced ‘next, next, next’, so I definitely understand it but I’m more than happy to give them what they want.”

Hooker also made headlines while on a visit to Spain in October when he flew to corner MMA journalist Oscar Willis in Willis’ bout on the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) card. Fellow UFC fighter Conor McGregor is involved with BKFC, and he and Hooker had conversations, with McGregor later suggesting Hooker would be his next opponent in the UFC.

Dan Hooker beat Mateusz Gamrot in August to climb to sixth in the UFC lightweight rankings. Photo / Getty Images

While that isn’t the bout Hooker is currently preparing for and there’s no guarantee regarding when McGregor will be back in the octagon, the Kiwi believes he would be in pole position should the Irish superstar return, though a bout between McGregor and Chandler has long been in the works.

“I’m very aware Conor was given a heads-up of the situation he was in, but we’ll see. The fact of the matter is he has two fights left on a UFC contract, and at the moment I’d probably be the frontrunner,” Hooker says.

“For him to fight Michael Chandler doesn’t really make any sense. The guy’s coming off a number of losses and is still a dangerous, athletic heavy puncher. Then also, Conor’s going through a lot of stuff behind the scenes right now, and to think that he would fight a guy that he has genuine animosity with at this time and to have all your dirty laundry all over the headline for a whole camp – it’s probably not that. Conor and I have some common friends, so I’m not a fighter [who] would go out of my way to air anybody’s dirty laundry.”

While he stresses the patience needed at this point in his career as he looks to make a play for a title shot in the not-too-distant future, it’s clear that is not his strong suit – at least not on the golf course.

“There’s no way I would have the patience to play 18,” he says after I sink a long putt for par on the 375m par-four seventh. We didn’t get it on video, though, so it didn’t happen, Hooker grins. And no, there’s no chance I was making the putt twice in a row.

Since 2022, Hooker has been working to claw his way back toward the top echelon of the division after achieving a career-high ranking of fifth after his split decision win over Paul Felder at UFC Auckland in 2020.

Dan Hooker beat Paul Felder by split decision at UFC Auckland in 2020. Photo / Brett Phibbs, Photosport

Covid-19 shut the world down soon after, and when the UFC did start putting shows on again, restrictions prevented Hooker from having a full and proper training camp when he was booked to headline against former interim champion Dustin Poirier.

The bout, fought in an empty building, was an instant classic, with Hooker ultimately falling to a unanimous decision loss in June 2020. That was followed by a knockout loss against Michael Chandler in January 2021, before he bounced back with a win over Nasrat Haqparast that September.

However, taking a short-notice bout against now-champion Islam Makhachev (round-one submission in October 2021) and dropping down to featherweight to take on highly-ranked contender Arnold Allen (first round TKO in March 2022) who, to that point, was unbeaten in the UFC, Hooker went on another skid that had many questioning if his time had come, and he had slipped to being ranked at the low end of the top 15.

In hindsight, Hooker admits he didn’t always make the smartest moves during that period.

“I feel like the light kind of gets shone on you quite brightly when you lose in this game, and the critics start coming in and people say you suck,” he says.

“But I’ve brushed that off numerous times in my career. You just stay focused on the things you can control, and that’s getting back in the gym and getting on with things.”

Dan Hooker admires his shot during a round at Maungakiekie Golf Club. Photo / Dean Purcell

As he plotted his return, the external questions came. First, does he still deserve to be ranked?

Answered emphatically with a second-round TKO over rising contender Claudio Puelles at Madison Square Garden in late 2022 – making “a guy on a five-fight win streak getting his chance at the rankings just look silly, really”, he recounts.

Second, does he deserve a place in the top 10?

Answered with a hard-fought split decision win over American Jalin Turner in July 2023 in a bout that saw Hooker overcome some early trouble and storm home in the second and third rounds, getting the win despite suffering a broken arm in the fight.

Finally, can he wrestle?

Answered in August 2024 – his first bout since the Turner win as injuries kept him sidelined – with a split decision win over Mateusz Gamrot. Gamrot’s pressure-wrestling style was expected to give Hooker troubles, but again he proved otherwise and took a split decision win in a decision that could have gone either way.

“The next logical question is: [Can he] be champion? So, that’s what I’m trying to prove in this next fight.”

That next fight is expected to take place in March or April next year, with Hooker only having eyes for an opponent ahead of him – learning from the lessons of his last foray into the top five.

“I’m getting an exciting fight that the fans will love to see on a big card, ranked above me – why would I go back?”

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.