Dan Hooker will return to featherweight for the first time in five years this weekend. Photo / Getty Images
Dan Hooker will return to featherweight for the first time in five years this weekend. Photo / Getty Images
Dan Hooker has matured into his craft.
Breaking into the UFC in 2014, Hooker spent six fights with the promotion at featherweight (65.7kg) - fighting to a 3-3 record before moving up to lightweight (70.3kg) in 2017.
After a five year run at lightweight in which he fought to an8-4 record - reaching as high as No 6 in the rankings - the 32-year-old will return to his roots this weekend at the sold-out O2 Arena in London when he takes on No 7 ranked featherweight Arnold Allen in the co-main event.
Because Hooker's six-foot frame is one of the tallest in the featherweight division, many are interested to see how he looks on the scales come weigh-ins, given he probably didn't perform to the best of his abilities in his first run in the division.
Hooker is quick to admit back then he wasn't doing things as correctly as he is now, particularly around managing his weight, and he believes featherweight is the best weight class for him to be competing in now.
"I competed at featherweight for years as a complete numb nuts; a 24-year-old numb nuts who didn't know anything about nutrition," Hooker reflected.
"Now I'm a seasoned professional inside and outside of the cage all the time. That's what it comes down to – when you're at home, alone and no one's watching, still a seasoned professional, and that level of control makes this easy."
Dan Hooker will return to featherweight for the first time in five years this weekend. Photo / Getty Images
Hooker and Allen will meet in the UFC octagon on Sunday morning.
Allen has only lost once in 18 career bouts. He was won his last 10 straight, with eight of those being in the UFC. Ranked at No 7 in the featherweight division, a win over a tough and established opponent like Hooker – who is still ranked No 8 at lightweight – would catapult the Englishman toward the top five and into title contention.
Allen will provide a good measuring stick of just where Hooker sits in the featherweight division now, as one of the most talented fighters at 145 pounds. Both fighters like to use their range and strike from the outside, but have well-rounded skillsets and have shown their grappling ability in the UFC.
"The move down was enough of a motivating factor, but to get a guy like Arnold Allen who is on an eight-fight win streak, it's impossible to deny a guy on an eight-fight win streak is not in title contention," Hooker said.
"He's just missing that big marquee name. For me, I just need to completely steal someone's momentum. I have the name value, but I don't have the momentum; he has the momentum but not the name value. Winner moves on and winner positions themselves for a title shot."
Hooker travelled to England early last week to allow himself time to get over the jet lag, which turns out to have been a masterstroke as the travel to England knocked him around. But giving himself a week to push through it before buckling down for fight week has allowed him to head into the fight in excellent condition.
Outside of the weight cut going well, Hooker will also get the benefit of having his coaches Eugene Bareman and Tristram Apikotoa both cornering him for the first time in five fights – the last time being when he beat Paul Felder in early Auckland in 2020.
"I'm excited. It sold out in about an hour, I've had fans from the UK absolutely bombarding me ever since this fight got announced, so I'm just excited to go out there – and from the way that jetlag kicked my backside, this is a once in a lifetime, UK fans, so soak it in.
"It's funny how no one gives a flying you-know-what about jetlag, but comparing the jetlag to the weight cut, unreal. The weight cut is a piece of piss compared to the jetlag."
