The image still regularly travels around the world. Slumped against the cage, his body covered in blood and his face full of cuts, Dan Hooker smiled. Beaten by Dustin Poirier for 25 minutes on June 27, 2020, the New Zealander has just experienced one of the most beautiful moments of his life. Of course, he lost, but he fought a bloody and spectacular war, one of the most famous in UFC history. And nothing can please him more.
“He’s a formidable opponent, really,” he smiled a few days later, his eyes purple and barely open. He was talking to me, I started talking back to him. I got carried away, I had too much fun, I had a lot of fun. » An astonishing joy but which perfectly defines the MMA fighter.
Because Dan Hooker is a bloodthirsty man, a modern vampire, generous to the extreme during his fights and ready to lose to put on a show. Always ready, too, for a quick visit to the emergency room at the end of his fights. “We’re going to end up in the hospital, my guy,” he warned before challenging Benoît Saint Denis on the night of next Saturday to Sunday in Sydney.
“An asshead who was spanked”
This appetite for combat is not new. “At 18, I was considering joining the army,” he likes to say. This idea had clearly crossed my mind but I googled: Is New Zealand at war with anyone? I found out that no, there was no point in signing up if I couldn’t fight anyone. I said to myself: man, I’m not signing up to get peace, I’m signing up to knock people out.”
Dan Hooker therefore opted for MMA, with his first professional fight in March 2009, at the age of 19. Five years later, he entered the big leagues, the UFC, the most prestigious league in the world, and made an impression with his spectacular fights, winning six bonuses for “performance” or “fight of the evening”. Rewards which allow him to maintain his place at the top of the ranking despite a mixed record (14 victories and 9 defeats).
“What I like most about fighting is that it allows you to truly test your character,” explains the New Zealander. It is impossible to hide your personality. If you want to escape, there is always a way to do it. Before, I would fight against opponents that I knew were superior to me, and I would turn the fight into a real war, simply because I enjoy that aspect of the sport. It’s something I’m looking forward to. »
Against Benoît Saint Denis, Dan Hooker should be served. And if he feared that this was not the case, he chose to provoke the Frenchman to make him react. “He’s ugly,” he said several times. I’m really going to use this. He’s an ass who’s been spanked. » For the moment, “God of War” has not responded. The response should be done in the cage.
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