Dan Hooker is ready to return to the win column after a tough three-fight skid.
The perennial UFC lightweight contender was public enemy No. 1 in September, when he traveled to Paris for a clash against hometown favorite and budding superstar, Salahdine Parnasse. Unfortunately for Hooker, his attempt to spoil Parnasse’s UFC debut party was foiled, as he succumbed to a brutal first-round finish from body shots.
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Over the past several years, Hooker has dealt with repeated injuries that have prevented him from taking fights at a high frequency. But this time, he was healthy enough to go again as early as Nov. 21 at UFC Qatar, where he’ll take on fellow veteran Brian Ortega in co-main event.
Speaking on Wednesday’s edition of “The Ariel Helwani Show,” Hooker explained why he wanted to fight so soon after his latest defeat.
“Those are the fights that upset you the most,” he said of Parnasse. “It’s not like a five-round war where you did absolutely everything you can, and you’re sitting out back, like, ‘Ah, well, man, I emptied the tank there.’ That’s a bit of an easier pill to swallow.
“When you just get out there and don’t really get to show anything [it’s much worse]. I put in a really hard training camp, made some pretty big improvements in my consistency and training, and I just didn’t get to show it.”
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“Then I saw Tom Nolan was matched with [Renato] Moicano [for Oct. 31],” Hooker added, “so I called my manager Ash and said, ‘F***, surely I can beat Brian Ortega.’ I was like, ‘F***, he’s old as well. Surely I can beat Brian Ortega.’ The UFC liked that fight, so I got it.”
Ortega was scheduled to face Moicano twice this year — first in March at UFC 326, and then in September at UFC 331. But Ortega withdrew from both bouts, the second of which led to Hooker’s new teammate at City Kickboxing, Tom Nolan, stepping in for the Moicano fight this past weekend at UFC Vegas 123. Nolan defeated Moicano via third-round stoppage.
Ortega’s track record of pullouts has given Hooker some pause, he admits. But ultimately, he’s fully expecting the two-time featherweight title challenger to show up on fight night.
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“I’m excited to see who I’m going to be fighting in Qatar,” Hooker jokingly said. “The amount of fake news saying that Brian Ortega’s pulled out, blah, blah, blah.
“I’ve never been pulled out on in my entire life. I don’t think I’ve ever had a fight and an opponent pull out, so I must have a very punchable face. People think they can beat me up because no one ever pulls out on me.”
“I’m excited to fight Brian Ortega,” he continued. “It’s a big fight. I feel like everyone wants to see that fight, and I’ll get out there and talk my s*** as I usually do. We’ll have a bit of fun and right this ship.”
Regarding Moicano, with whom Hooker has bantered back and forth with for years online without ever facing each other in the Octagon, a matchup could be possible depending on how Hooker’s UFC Qatar fight goes. But Moicano also isn’t interested in Hooker vs. Ortega, having recently called it “the worst fight in UFC history.”
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Hooker still thinks the fight would be fun, but he doesn’t see it as very likely, given the volatility it would bring.
“He’s an absolute f***ing joke, and Tom Nolan made him look like an absolute mug. I could see the fear on his face. He was absolutely shitting himself as soon as they stood him up,” he said of Moicano.
“We’ve been talking s*** — the buildup for it would be absolutely disgusting. You couldn’t chuck the build-up for that on Paramount.”
When Hooker competes in Qatar later this month, it’ll make 2026 the first year he’s fought three times in one year since 2021.
