Dan Hooker has always answered the call for the UFC, but right now he’s keeping his best interests in mind.
With the UFC heading back to Perth on Sept. 28, New Zealand’s Hooker was ready to book a fight for that card even though he is still recovering from undergoing hand surgery this past March. He changed his mind the week of UFC 317 in June, when he was denied tickets to be in attendance at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to watch friend and teammate Kai Kara-France challenge flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja.
The incident left a sour taste in Hooker’s mouth.
“They tried to get me out of bed at 7:30 in the morning [eastern time]—the UFC booked me for some shit—which is three in the morning New Zealand time,” Hooker said on Submission Radio. “I didn’t even go out. I had an early night, but I’m not getting out of bed at three in the morning to do just about anything. I slept in, and I didn’t go to the UFC thing. They canceled my tickets to Kai’s fight and then so it’s like, I’m going to rush back and fight injured for a company that’s going to cancel my tickets to the event when I’ve traveled all the way to Las Vegas. I would have fought injured, but then someone at a desk has crossed my name off a list.
“You work in the office, brother, I work in the—you think there would be a bit more respect there for guys who literally give their life. The amount of blood, sweat, and tears I’ve poured into putting shows on for that company, I thought there would have been a bit more respect there. But there’s not, which is cool, business is business. We can fight on my terms then. … I’m not going to break my back for a company that doesn’t respect me.”
Hooker didn’t clarify exactly why his tickets for UFC 317 were revoked, but he made it clear he would not be making a quick turnaround for the promotion despite wanting to fight closer to home on the Perth card. He now eyes a still-to-be-announced New York pay-per-view card, which the UFC typically hosts in November every year.
For his next opponent, Hooker wants to take on top contender Arman Tsarukyan, and though that matchup would likely determine the No. 1 contender at 155 pounds for champion Ilia Topuria, “The Hangman” isn’t interested in championship rounds unless there’s significant extra pay involved.
“Twenty grand for an extra ten minutes is the going rate,” Hooker said. “I’m a logical thinker. In what world do I get a half a million dollars for 15 minutes and then I get half a million dollars and 20 grand for half an hour?
“When I used to work at the bloody kitchen factory, do you think I did an eight-hour day and got paid a couple of hundred bucks and then I’m going to do twice as much work and get a fraction more money. It just doesn’t make sense to me. ‘Oh, but, you know, for the experience.’ Shove it up your f*cking ass, bro, I’m not going to work. I’m not going to work for twice as long. If you want me to go to work for twice as long, pay me twice as much, that’s how that works.”
Even as Hooker aired his grievances with the promotion he’s called home since 2014, he also praised the UFC for its business acumen. Right now, it has a popular champion at the top lightweight division in Topuria, and a number of potential challengers lining up for his first defense of that title.
Hooker explained how this scenario is by design.
“The UFC is smart as f*ck,” Hooker said. “They never paint themselves into a situation where there’s a clear No. 1 contender that has to fight for the belt next, because if they’re ever in that situation, then negotiations obviously become very difficult for them. If the fans are 100 percent locked and expecting there’s only one guy that makes sense for the title, you think when they sit down and negotiate, the UFC’s in a strong position?
“Now they’ve got [Justin] Gaethje that they can have, they’ve got Arman that still they’ve said doesn’t but he does still make sense for the title. Paddy Pimblett could step up because he’s got f*cking beef coming out of his ears. So they always have in a title fight situation three guys that could justify title shots because then if they have one guy, they go to the first guy, he starts playing hard ball, then they can go to the second guy, they can go to the third guy, then they can go back to the first guy. At the end of the day it’s business and the fight that makes the most dollars makes the most sense for the UFC.”
