Dan Hooker is confident he can make quick work of Dustin Poirier.
The lightweight pair was scheduled to meet in the Octagon in May but the fight was moved to June 27 to headline the UFC on ESPN 12 fight card.
‘The Diamond’ from Louisiana will be making his return from a nine-month hiatus, since he was submitted by Khabib Nurmagedov in their main event lightweight title clash at UFC 242.
Meanwhile, Hooker is fresh off a sensational split decision victory against Paul Felder, when they starred in an epic encounter at UFC Auckland, in what many considered as one of the best MMA fights so far in 2020.
With a potential title shot on the line, Hooker said the lightweight fight will be a win-win situation for him.
“The way I look at it, it’s a win-win situation. I’m No. 5, I’m fighting the No. 3. I plan on going out there, putting on one heck of a show and putting Dustin away and earning myself a title shot. That’s what my mind is set on,” he told MMA Fighting.
Incredible Boxer
Commenting on Poirier’s game, ‘The Hangman’ said: “He does tend to strike but also he does mix things up pretty well.”
“Presses it against the cage, looks to wrestle. I doubt his No. 1 plan is ‘I’m going to go out there and I’m going to strike with Dan Hooker’ cause I don’t think that would be a great night for him.
“He’s an incredible boxer, an incredible wrestler and I’m expecting him to mix those two aspects of his game together in that way.”
The former interim champion holds wins against some of the best strikers like Justin Gaethje and Max Holloway but Hooker assures he’ll force Poirier to make game adjustments.
Best Resume
In fact, Hooker believes his upcoming opponent would not be as tough as the previous one and he predicts Poirier will not be able to survive his shots.
“I feel like pressuring me, taking a shot, giving it, taking a shot, giving a shot is just not the way to best approach it. I don’t feel like Dustin can take a shot as well as Paul Felder can.”
“From watching the tape of both of those fighters, I don’t think Poirier has the chin Felder does.”
“I feel I can put Dustin away. If I keep touching him, there’s no way that Dustin’s going to be able to eat those shots and be able to recover from the damage I’m generally able to inflict on opponents.”
“I definitely have the best resume for a title shot. Winning against Dustin Poirier, especially in a good fight. A good back and forth entertaining matchup or via knockout, I solidify myself with the next best resume.”
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Dan Hooker and Dustin Poirier)