'Completed package' Dan Hooker targets UFC London to spark final run at championship gold

New Zealander, competing again at featherweight, talks to 'The National' ahead of bout with Arnold Allen in co-main event this weekend

Dan Hooker before his lightweight fight against Nasrat Haqparast at UFC 266 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Getty Images

With his “internship” at featherweight a long time complete, Dan Hooker believes his final run at UFC gold begins this weekend against the surging Arnold Allen at UFC London.

The New Zealander, who last competed in Abu Dhabi in October, has made the move back down to 145 lbs having in recent years fought at the sharp end of the lightweight division.

On Sunday morning, Hooker will compete at featherweight for the first time since 2016 and, true to form, has jumped right into the thick of the action. In Allen, in the co-main event at the O2 Arena, he faces the featherweight’s No 7-ranked contender, a home favourite who has won all eight of his UFC appearances.

As always, though, Hooker is fully embracing the challenge.

“I’ve come to the realisation the last couple of days, that it was kind of always my intention to move back down to featherweight,” he tells The National. “It was kind of as an internship, my first run at featherweight, and this shift up to lightweight gaining all of that experience, taking the challenges, competing with those guys.

“But I always knew that my final run towards the title would be back down at the weight class that I should be competing in. I'm excited to put all of that experience, put all of those lessons, and showcase like a completed package.”

All of Hooker's past 12 UFC appearances have come at lightweight. Last time out, he was beaten by surging contender Islam Makhachev via first-round submission at UFC 267 at Etihad Arena – a fight Hooker agreed to on a month’s notice. It represented his third defeat in his past four fights, meaning his overall professional MMA record reads 21-11, and 11-7 in the UFC. England's Allen, meanwhile, is 17-1 (8-0).

Understandably, Hooker acknowledges the dangers of taking on an opponent this weekend on such a hot streak. Yet he recognises the benefits, too.

“They're carrying like a lot of momentum with them, they haven’t had that sour taste in their mouth for a while,” he says. “It's the same as when you're early on in your career and you come up against someone that's undefeated. They’re more fearless just because they haven't experienced it. All they know is win, all they know is victory.

“It's definitely challenging, but it benefits me that I don't fight like that. I don't go out there and try to break people's will, I don't try to make them quit, and I don’t do anything like that. I shut them off - that’s it. Everyone fights differently; my style of fighting is to just turn them off.”

Hooker, 32, has felt the pinch of the pandemic more than most - at least professionally. The Auckland native has spent sustained spells outside New Zealand because of the restrictions in his homeland, but the relaxing of the rules has provided him with a welcome return to normality in the build-up to UFC London.

“I haven't a [normal] camp since I main-evented against Paul Felder [in February 2020] in Auckland, since I was on my streak, on my run. Ever since then, it's been a complete nightmare, upon reflection, with the kind of circumstances and situations. Going into a fight, knowing that you're not going to be able to go home for four months is a lot. It definitely weighs on you mentally.”

Able to be even more focused now, Hooker expects victory this weekend secures a top-five opponent next, and the path to the featherweight title to become a little clearer. At present, teammate and friend Alexander Volkanovski reigns as champion, but Hooker says that’s too far in the future to even consider, or speculate on.

“I’m not really looking past Arnold Allen,” he says. “You just know what you can get from a guy on an eight-fight win streak in the UFC. It's hard to argue - well, it's impossible to argue - that that guy is not positioning himself for a title shot. So whoever wins this fight moves forward on to big things.”