"I have all the skills, and I just need to play the game like everyone else is playing it" - It is "wild" in Dan Hooker's opinion that Islam Makhachev was given a title opportunity after two late-replacement contests

Dan Hooker has recently struggled, losing four of his last five fights. His most recent two losses came from an ill-advised last-minute match against Islam Makhachev and an effort to box at featherweight. He has now decided that he must start “playing the game” better.

Hooker claimed that he was letting his coaches decide who and when he would fight next in a new interview with Submission Radio. He stated:

“When you take care of yourself you can move pretty quickly. All these opportunities come up, and I would jump on all these opportunities. But then you see the guys ahead of you playing the game very smart and getting further. And it’s not like they’re any more skillful or better or levels ahead of you, bu they’re just playing the game a lot smarter. When you’ve got a guy fighting for a title and he’s coming off the back of two good stylistic match-ups on short notice, that’s wild… So it’s just funny when you step back and observe that and think well, maybe I have all the skills and I just need to play the game like everyone else is playing it.”

The last remark was directed at Islam Makhachev, who will compete against Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight championship at UFC 280. Makhachev defeated Bobby Green, who took over for Beneil Dariush with just 14 days’ notice, and Dan Hooker, who took over for Rafael dos Anjos with a month’s notice. Next, Makhachev and his trainer Khabib Nurmagomedov engaged in a successful social media campaign to persuade the UFC to give him a title chance.

@danawhite you have no other choice but make Oliveira vs Islam fight in AbuDhabi 22 October.
Perfect date, Perfect location,Perfect opponents with perfect winning streaks 10 vs 11.@MAKHACHEVMMA @ufc

— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) May 8, 2022

Tony Ferguson receives criticism from Dan Hooker for his flimsy comeback

After suffering a terrible first-round knockout loss to Arnold Allen in March 2022, Dan Hooker decided to retire from featherweight. Tony Ferguson has received criticism from “The Hangman” for returning at 155 pounds in recent tweets.

I’ll smash ya face in @TonyFergusonXT pic.twitter.com/ONxCWSxZM9

— Dan Hangman Hooker (@danthehangman) August 2, 2022

In an interview with Submission Radio, Hooker outlined his motivations for challenging “El Cucuy”:

“That’s a big fight. Tony is like, a big fight. A win for either one of us puts the other one right back in the mix. That’s where you wanna be. I am not here to make up the numbers, I’m not here just to hunt out easy wins.”

Two years ago, the top two lightweight contenders were Tony Ferguson and Dan Hooker. They are now ranked 11th and 13th, respectively. Although a victory wouldn’t push either fighter back into the top five, it would still be a fantastic contest and a wonderful chance for the winner to start regaining ground.