Dan Hooker says his “whole approach needs to change” following loss to Dustin Poirier
UFC lightweight Dan Hooker has admitted that he needs to change things up in a big way following his recent loss to Dustin Poirier.
Back at the end of June, “Hangman” went to war with “The Diamond” in what many believe to be the male Fight of the Year thus far. Despite a spirited effort from the New Zealand native, Poirier was able to get the job done and score a huge unanimous decision victory to vault himself right back into title contention.
Hooker, on the other hand, appears to have taken a step back in order to figure out what exactly he needs to change in the future, as he noted during a recent Instagram post.
“My whole approach needs to change,” Hooker wrote. “Being a nasty son of a gun that loves to scrap got me this far. But I’m missing a huge piece of the puzzle, the ‘championship mindset.’ I experienced it against Poirier and I saw it last night with Volk. To everyone on this journey with me, I will make the necessary adjustments and be back stronger than ever. I have lost many times, but remain undefeated.”
Hooker has seen two of his teammates, Alexander Volkanovski and Israel Adesanya, rise to the top of their respective divisions. Now, he wants to do whatever it takes so that he can feel the same sense of achievement.
It’s clear to see that he wants to get back into the Octagon again as soon as possible, and during a recent interview with Submission Radio, he mentioned a few names that he’d like to square off against.
“I’ve got my eyes on who I want to fight next, and I think it’s either gonna be Tony or it’s gonna be Oliveira,” he said (via MMA Junkie). “I think either one of those fights is another main event. But then, Oliveira, he’s getting carried away calling out Poirier and calling out Conor (McGregor), and he’s beating around the bush, trying to say anyone except me or Tony,” Hooker said.
“He’s a funny guy. But yeah, I’ll have to wait and see, because obviously Tony makes way more sense for me. But if I have to go back and then solidify my place in the top five, I’m happy to do that. I just want to fight and I want to fight before the end of the year, and either of those two names makes sense for me.”
