Looking to bounce back from his recent setback against Michael Chandler, the top ten UFC lightweight Dan Hooker is eyeing a fight with Beneil Dariush next.
Hooker suffered a brutal first-round TKO loss to Chandler at UFC 257, whereas Dariush recently entered the top five for the first time in his career after beating Tony Ferguson via unanimous decision at UFC 262.
Most Skillful Lightweight
Speaking to Submission Radio (as transcribed by Bloody Elbow), Hooker heaped praise on Dariush, calling him the most skilful fighter in the division.
“I feel like Beneil is like the ugly girl at the dance,” Hooker joked. “I don’t mean that in like an offensive way. I mean that as like skill for skill, I feel like he’s the most skilful guy in the division. I feel like he’s one of the most well-rounded guys but he doesn’t have the name recognition that some of the other guys in the top five have.”
“I Would Love That Fight”
With his win over Ferguson, Dariush jumped up six places to number three in the UFC rankings. Hooker, who sits at number eight, says he would happily take a fight with the Kings MMA representative.
“I would love that fight, I know he’s on an incredible win streak at the moment but I would love the opportunity to get in there and test myself against Beneil,” Hooker said. “Even though he jumped up so high in the rankings, I don’t see a single person calling out Beneil Dariush. So I would put my hand up for that fight if he’s ready to go in a couple months.”
Hooker is unlikely to get his wish however, as a result of Dariush planning to stay on the sidelines until the end of the year, as he is expecting his first child.
How do you think a fight between Dan Hooker and Beneil Dariush would play out?
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