David Larsen 
@adminUFC Lightweight Dan Hooker has stepped up to fight Islam Makhachev at UFC 267. Islam was previously scheduled to fight Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC 267 but Rafael pulled out due to an injury. This fight has been canceled three times. Makhachev was expected to face Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 254. However, on October 8, 2020, it was reported that dos Anjos tested positive for COVID-19 and he was removed from the bout. The pairing was left intact and rescheduled at UFC Fight Night 182. However, on November 8, it was reported that Makhachev was forced to pull from the event due to a staph infection. Now at UFC 267 the fight was scheduled again but got canceled again. Dan Hooker now will be stepping up on one month’s notice.
Dan Hooker Reveals Why He Took The Fight
Hooker last fought at UFC 266 and defeated Nasrat. He won via decision. Dan dominated all three rounds of the fight and won the fight in every aspect of the game. He came back to the win column after losing back-to-back fights. His last came against Michael Chandler. Now Hooker is ready to fight Islam in just one month. He reveals that he was offered a very good amount of money for the Islam Fight.
Speaking with The Mac Life on Thursday, Hooker says that though originally reticent to put off returning home to his family for a prolonged period, he accepted a fight with Makhachev at UFC 267, after the UFC made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.
“I knew I was the only guy, the only real option,” Hooker said. “But yeah, they called me up and I’m a happy man! I’ll see you in Abu Dhabi! (Laughs) I called up the missus, get out the red panties baby! (Laughs)”
“Now it’s indefinite. It’s not like it’s just stupid money. It’s money to justify what they’re asking me to do, right? They’re asking me to pretty much leave my country so with that I need enough to set up a life here for however long. Because there’s Kiwis that have been stuck out of New Zealand for a couple of years now, so it’s all well and good being like, yeah, I’ll take the risk but not being able to go home for a couple of years is daunting to a lot of people.”
Dan Talks About Islam Fight
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Hooker also stated that a win over Islam might move him closer to the top-ranked fights and fighters.
“Just the feeling I get off of it, they’re so desperate on getting Islam this fight because they’re trying to, obviously, Dubai, there’s a huge fan base there, but they’re trying to get him to the title, right?” Hooker said “And you can’t a title eliminator where only if one of the guys wins (he gets a title shot). Then it’s not a title eliminator, then it’s just something else. So I feel like this is a title eliminator. I feel with a dominant showing here, definitely lines yourself up for the belt. Besides that it would be between us or (Michael) Chandler- (Justin) Gaethje. That’s the logical next fight for whoever. It comes down to whoever puts on the best performance out of those two fights.”
