Dan Hooker wished a fast turnaround after his final loss.
Hooker headlined UFC Paris on Sept. 5 and suffered a first-round TKO loss to Salahdine Parnasse, which was disappointing for the Kiwi. After the loss, Hooker made it clear he wished a fast turnaround and referred to as to face Brian Ortega, as he felt prefer it was a winnable combat for him.
“Once you simply get on the market and don’t actually get to point out something, that’s irritating,” Hooker mentioned to Ariel Helwani. “I put in a extremely arduous coaching camp, made some fairly huge enhancements in my consistency and coaching, and I simply didn’t get to point out it. Then I noticed Tom Nolan was matched with Moicano, so I referred to as my supervisor Ash and mentioned, ‘F***, certainly I can beat Brian Ortega.’ I used to be like, ‘F***, he’s outdated as effectively. Absolutely I can beat Brian Ortega.’ The UFC favored that combat, so I acquired it.”
It’s a enjoyable combat between two huge names and Hooker has full confidence he’ll beat Ortega to get again on observe.
Dan Hooker expects Brian Ortega to point out up
Though Hooker believes he can beat Ortega, the previous featherweight title contender has a historical past of pulling out. Nevertheless, Hooker is assured Ortega will present up, and so they pull out on a present for the followers.
“I’m excited to see who I’m going to be combating in Qatar,” Hooker mentioned. “The quantity of pretend information saying that Brian Ortega’s pulled out, blah, blah, blah. I don’t assume I’ve ever had an opponent pull out. I should have a really punchable face. Individuals assume they will beat me up as a result of nobody ever pulls out on me. I’m excited to combat Brian Ortega. It’s an enormous combat. I really feel like everybody desires to see that combat.”
Hooker enters UFC Qatar with a report of 24-15 and is on a three-fight shedding skid. Earlier than the loss to Parnasse, he misplaced to Benoit Saint-Denis and Arman Tsarukyan.
Ortega, in the meantime, hasn’t fought since August of 2025, when he dropped a choice to Aljamain Sterling. He’s now set to make a everlasting transfer to light-weight.
Who do you assume will win, Dan Hooker or Brian Ortega?
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