Dan Hooker previews UFC 313 co-main event against Justin Gaethje: “The UFC wants to see someone die”

UFC lightweight contender Dan Hooker can’t wait to go to war with Justin Gaethje.

‘The Hangman’ hasn’t been seen in the cage since a clash with Mateusz Gamrot in August. That night at UFC 305 saw Dan Hooker go to war with ‘Gamer’, and emerge with an upset win by split-decision. The victory was the New Zealander’s third in a row, previously scoring victories over Jalin Turner and Claudio Puelles.

A few months removed from that win, Dan Hooker is set to go again. Earlier this month, Dana White announced that ‘The Hangman’ would face Justin Gaethje in a five-round co-main event at UFC 313 in March. For his part, ‘The Highlight’ hasn’t been seen since his historic knockout loss to Max Holloway in April.

Earlier today, Dan Hooker appeared on Ariel Helwani’s podcast to preview the bout. There, the longtime fan-favorite was asked about the bout with Justin Gaethje being five rounds. While five-round co-mains have become more common, they’re still relatively rare. There, Hooker joked the UFC made the fight 25 minutes because they wanted to see someone go down for good.

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Dan Hooker on the Gaethje fight being 5 rounds:

“I think the UFC wants to see someone die… They wanna see someone go down. They wanna see blood. They wanna see rounds 4 and 5.” pic.twitter.com/BR7bm3y5bu

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 27, 2025

Dan Hooker opens up ahead of UFC 313 co-main event against Justin Gaethje

“I just think the UFC wants to see someone die.” Dan Hooker stated earlier today when asked about his UFC 313 co-main event with Justin Gaethje. “Haha, like, I think they just want to finish it. They want this fight for the fans as well, they want to see someone go down, they want to see blood. They want to see rounds four and five.”

Later in the interview, Dan Hooker joked that he was being paid quite well for the UFC 313 co-main as well. The extra two rounds have seemingly led to a decent little pay bump for ‘The Hangman’.

He continued, “I’m happy to oblige, with more money… If I stayed longer back in the kitchen or factory and stayed a couple of extra hours, I expect a few extra dollars in my back pocket brother. I’m not here for fun, I’m not here because I like you guys! It’s prizefighting, brother.”

What do you make of these comments from the UFC lightweight contender? Are you excited for Dan Hooker vs. Justin Gaethje?