Dan Hooker clarifies the retirement speculations. The fighter incurred a defeat against Michael Chandler at UFC 257.
Michael Chandler’s unbelievable debut at UFC 257 made Dan Hooker the subject of humiliation. Hangman, who was heavily favored by oddsmakers suffered a first-round TKO defeat at UFC 257 and then hinted at retirement.
The 30-year-old evidently threw his gloves in the ring while exiting, which is considered a sign of hanging up the gloves.
While Dustin Poirier’s TKO win over Conor McGregor overshadowed every other headline, however, in the hindsight Dan Hooker’s fight status became a subject of contemplation. And in order to give weight or deny speculations, Dan Hooker sat down for an interview with Submission Radio.
In the chat with the hosts, Hooker explained what went wrong that night and how in the moment the aggravation of defeat got the better of him.
“To be honest, I had nothing to say,” Hooker explained. “Like a week went past and what can you say? What can you say? You have good days and bad days. You go into these kinds of things and you prepare yourself for worst-case scenarios, but even that took the cake. Even then it surprised me how bad it went. That was the very surprising thing. So I was like, what can you say? I had no words to describe it. You come to and then you’re just like, I’ve just wasted four months of my life for that.”
‘It’s such an obvious error and such a very costly mistake’
Hooker reviewed his performance and said a lapse of judgment made him pay a heavy penalty. However, also admitted that Chandler’s adjustments caught him off guard.
“That’s like the funny thing, zigged and should’ve zagged,” Hooker said. “That’s all it is. Fighting is like a mixture of thinking and your reactions. You’re balancing your process thought and then your reactions. I felt like I was calm, could see everything, was thinking, was sharp in there. I just relied on my reactions to get out of the way of that punch and it let me down. It’s hard to describe. It’s such an obvious error and such a very costly mistake.
“He changed levels. I think I relied on my reaction time. He sold the level change well. I thought he was going for a takedown, comes upstairs with a punch. There’s a million things I could’ve done that would’ve changed that. There’s a million different reactions that I could’ve done and that not happen. But it did. What can you do? I certainly don’t have a time machine. I think Floyd Mayweather has a time machine. If anyone has a time machine, Floyd Mayweather has a time machine. I do not have a time machine.”
Dan Hooker reveals why he Instantly decided to retire
After the fight, it was reported that Hooker had implied a departure from the sport and indeed he did, however, upon reaching the hotel he changed his decision, Hooker revealed.
“You’re always frustrated after a loss,” Hooker explained. “(It was) a balance of everything. Sheer frustration, you’re disappointed, and in that moment I was like, ‘I’m done! I’m finished with this sh*tty sport! I’m done!’ Then you get back to the hotel and you think about it and you realize you’re not good at anything else either, so it’s like well (laughs), “I’ve kind of painted myself into a bit of a corner here.’”
Though, the defeat was apparently devastating but, Hooker says the dust has settled now and he has again come to realize that winning and losing is a part and parcel of this sport.
“People think you’re gonna be rolling around in depression and not getting out of bed, but I know what it is. This is a sport I’ve been doing and following for my entire adult life. It’s always a possibility. A loss like this, you’re not rolling around in depression, super upset. It’s self-explanatory. It is what it is. I can honestly say I’m not any more upset than when I lost the Poirier fight.”
Click Here For More UFC News
