When it came down to it, Dan Hooker knew there wasn’t much that could be said about his loss in the UFC Qatar main event, so he met the result with some affability and humor.
Hooker (24-13 MMA, 14-9 UFC) fought top lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan (23-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) in the UFC Fight Night 265 main event Saturday in Doha, Qatar. He was a heavy underdog to the 6-1 favored Tsarukyan, who hadn’t fought since April 2024, and was submitted with an arm-triangle choke in the second round.
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Tsarukyan had a title shot against then-champ Islam Makhachev in January, but suffered a back injury during his weight cut and pulled out the day before the fight. Renato Moicano was drawn into emergency title shot mode from down the card and fell short.
Hooker took a three-fight winning streak into his headliner with Tsarukyan, but hadn’t fought in more than a year, himself. A hand injury took him out of a fight with Justin Gaethje in March.
“It is what it is. There’s not much to break down,” Hooker told The Mac Life on Sunday in Qatar. “I took a swing at the No. 1 (lightweight contender) in the world. Yeah, he’s good. What do you want me to say? … Swing big, miss big. … It didn’t play out. Now I know what you have to do.”
The 35-year-old Australian admitted his chances of eventually winning a UFC title probably went by the wayside with the loss to Tsarukyan. But he also said doesn’t consider himself part of any “old man division” in the UFC and only looking for fights against fellow former contenders who face similar difficult paths back to title contention.
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That’s why he’d like to fight Moicano (20-7-1 MMA, 12-7 UFC) next. Makhachev tapped Moicano with a first-round D’Arce choke in the title fight at UFC 311 when he stepped up late, leaving a fight with Beneil Dariush behind. Dariush then beat Moicano at UFC 317 in June when they picked up where they left off at UFC 311.
Moicano and Hooker both came to the UFC in 2014, but their paths haven’t crossed. Much of that is due to Moicano fighting at featherweight his first six years in the promotion.
“I’m not going to hold up the division,” Hooker said. “I’m prepared to fight down in the rankings. Let’s go. Moicano – I’d love to fight close to home, so Moicano in Sydney. … I think Moicano’s a fun fight. I think we can have some fun, too.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Qatar: Dan Hooker comments on loss to Tsarukyan, calls out Moicano
