“Just Outclass Him”- Dan Hooker wants to expose Islam Makhachev’s grappling at UFC 267

UFC Lightweight contender Dan Hooker has responded to the comments made by the Islam Makhachev camp ahead of his fight against Makhachev at UFC 267. The 31 year old fighter hailing from New Zealand is arguably one of the toughest fighter to ever step foot inside the octagon. 

Hooker has once again showed his love for the sport by taking a short notice fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov protege Islam Makhachev at UFC 267. Hooker will be coming into the fight after a fresh off decision victory over Nasrat Haqparast at UFC 266.

Burn the boats. pic.twitter.com/33K6upyQcE

— Dan Hangman Hooker (@danthehangman) October 3, 2021

Javier Mendez recently gave an interview in which he claimed that Islam Makhachev will dominate Dan Hooker using his superior grappling game. The AKA head coach also mentioned that Makhachev doesn’t have to knock Hooker out, but instead Hooker has to knock Islam out in order to win.

“Islam is so good Islam can stand with him and do well there and if potentially not even beating him you know, he could potentially do that but what’s the point you know? He can’t hang with us on the ground… He can stand with us and he can potentially beat us. Why are we going to stand? It’s no secret what we are going to do and there’s no secret what they are going to do. I’m just gonna say this, Dan has to knock Islam out to win, Islam doesn’t have to knock Dan out or submit Dan to win.”

“He puts his pants like me. He ain’t Superman” – Dan Hooker responds to the comments made by Makhachev camp

Ahead of this weekend’s UFC Fight Night: Costa vs Vettori, ‘The Hangman’ made a guest appearance on the media day and spoke to the press. Hooker was asked to give his reaction on the recent comments made by Islam Makhachev’s head coach Javier Mendez.

The 31 year old fighter, gave a rather subtle reply to the media by saying, “They can say whatever they want to say, but I know full well they respect my skills without a doubt. I don’t know who are they trying to convince with all of this. Are they trying to convince him that this is going to happen? Are they trying to convince me that this is going to happen? I don’t know. But he puts his pants on like me. He ain’t Superman.”

Dan Hooker also disclosed his game plan for the Makhachev fight. Hooker wants to outclass Islam Makhachev and wants to make the Dagestani fighter look a bit ‘silly’ in their match-up. ‘The Hangman’ also discredited Makhachev’s ground game by terming that he is not a slick submission specialist.

“That’ll really shut everyone up. If I just go out there and outclass him. Then what’s everyone going to say? If I go out there and prove where your grappling lies in the division and make him look a bit silly. That’s my intention and my plan.”

Islam Makhachev will be squaring off against Dan Hooker in a lightweight contest at UFC 267 in Abu Dhabi. Dan Hooker will be filling in as a replacement for Rafael dos Anjos who was earlier scheduled to fight Makhachev, but was out of the bout after he underwent a knee surgery.