Dan Hooker wasn’t a fan of Islam Makhachev’s win over Thiago Moises in the main event of UFC Vegas 31 on Saturday.
Makhachev used his wrestling-based style to control Moises and get a fourth-round submission. It was a good win for the Dagestani native, but for Hooker, he says he got bored watching the fight.
“I kind of was watching and on fast forward,” Hooker told Submission Radio (via MMAJunkie). “I got bored. So, I can’t really… like, yeah. It kind of is what it is.”
Although Hooker says he got bored, it also could be some trash-talk as the two took shots at one another on fight week. Hooker mentioned he would face Makhachev if he wone but the Dagestani native said that fight didn’t make sense.
However, for Hooker, he says Makhachev is just trying to be Khabib with the way he acts but it doesn’t work considering he got KO’d in the UFC.
“You see scrolling past and seeing on like build-up videos of him saying everyone’s scared, everyone’s scared to fight him, oh, the whole division’s shook,” Hooker said. “Bro, you’re just copying your mate’s homework. Give your mate’s homework back and come up with something for yourself, son.
“He’s on a good streak at the moment, but I believe he’s been knocked out in the UFC before,” Hooker continued. “So then him copying Khabib’s homework and saying all this wild stuff when you’ve been laid flat in the octagon, it doesn’t really have the same ring to it as an undefeated fighter.”
With all this trash-talk, perhaps Dan Hooker and Islam Makhachev do fight next time out. Hooker has been campaigning to return for months now and is without a dance partner. A fight against Makhachev does make sense but the Dagestani native has his eyes set on the top-five of the lightweight division.
