One day out from weigh-in and two days away from the biggest fight of his career, Daniel 'the Hangman' Hooker is relaxed and in peak physical shape heading into his bout with Yair Rodriguez on UFC 192 in Houston, Texas, on Sunday afternoon (NZT).
Hooker and trainer Eugene Bareman arrived five days ago to help acclimatise and leave nothing to chance through the final week of preparation.
Today Hooker rubbed shoulders with the likes of UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier challenger Alexander Gustaffson and former UFC welterweight champion Johnny Hendricks as the hype elevated.
US media largely ignored Hooker, who's widely seen as a rugged stepping stone for the flashy Mexican, but the Kiwi is comfortable slipping below the radar and confident he can topple the highly regarded hometown boy and pave his way into the top 15 of the 66kg featherweight division.
All that is left is for the Kiwi to drop 3kg overnight for tomorrow's weigh-in and then replenish for his fight on Sunday.
