Dan Hooker planning return to lightweight after brief stint at 145 pounds

Dan Hooker began his career at featherweight, but after an unsuccessful return to 145 pounds in March, it sounds like he’ll be competing at lightweight for the foreseeable future.

Hooker is coming off a first-round technical knockout loss to Arnold Allen in a featherweight bout at UFC Fight Night 204 in London on March 19. That move came on the heels of a stretch in which he lost three of four lightweight appearances. Ultimately, Hooker decided the effort needed to make 145 pounds wasn’t worth it.

“I felt like I could’ve stayed at 145, but obviously a lot of sacrifice goes into that,” Hooker said on Submission Radio. “But off of the result of the last fight, and then I feel like I’m in the exact same position at both weight classes – so why not? Why would I make the extra sacrifice? The extra sacrifice was to get me back in the same position that I was in. You know what I mean? But if I’m in the exact same position, I’d rather be in the exact same position and eating and having a slice of cake every now and then.”

With losses in four of his last five Octagon appearances, Hooker doesn’t necessarily have his next opponent in mind. However, he expects it’ll inevitably be a difficult matchup, whoever it might be.

“It’ll be whoever it’s going to be,” Hooker said. “Obviously I have my inklings, but it’ll be like all those other situations. You run back and you look at who I’ve fought, you just look at the division and ask yourself, who don’t people want to fight? And that’s who I’ll probably end up fighting.

“Like, who’s getting turned down left, right and center? That’s who I’ll fight next. So you can take a look at the division. Ask yourself, ‘Who doesn’t anyone want to fight?’ That’s the guy. That’s why I’m not that fussed about. I can get back in the mix. I can get back in the mix in a heartbeat. You can’t count a dog like me out of the game. That’s just not how it works.”