MMA: Dan Hooker looking to 'switch off' Al Iaquinta in fan-friendly UFC 243 co-main event

Dan Hooker. Photo / Michael Craig

Dan Hooker is here for a good time, not a long time.

While many mixed martial artists go into their fights and take each round as it comes, the Kiwi UFC star has thrived from his unique approach inside the octagon.

"I don't go out there to win rounds. I'm going out there and I'm setting up a finish," he explains. "That's all I'm looking to do. Whether I'm winning, whether I'm losing, I'm setting up a finish.

"I'm not particularly going out there to try win rounds and get points - it just doesn't work for me, I've gone out and tried it and it just doesn't work, so I just treat it as one round, go out there, set different traps and see if he trips up on one of them."

On October 6, Hooker (18-8) will be looking to trap No 6-ranked lightweight Al Iaquinta in the co-main event of UFC 243 in front a predicted 60,000 fans at Melbourne's Marvel Stadium and continue his rise through the division.

Hooker's crowd-friendly approach is evident in his record, with 10 wins by knockout and seven by submission. Of his eight losses, five have been on the judges' scorecards.

Like Hooker, Iaquinta (14-5-1) has developed a reputation as one of the toughest fighters in the lightweight division since making his debut with the UFC more than five years ago. His nickname 'Raging Al' is an indication of his relentless style which, once he gets going, can be hard for opponents to keep up with. Of his 14 career MMA wins, seven have come by knockout, six by decision and just one by submission, which came in 2009 in his first professional bout. Iaquinta has never been knocked out, but has been submitted three times.

Dan Hooker stopped James Vick in the first round in his most recent bout. Photo / Getty Images

"Some fighters you can go out there and push a pace on them and see if you can make them quit, but I feel like that's just not going to happen and he's of the same opinion," Hooker says of the match up.

"We're just not going to go out there and look to make the other guy quit, we're more going to go the other avenue – look to switch the other guy off, because if you switch him off it doesn't really matter how bad he wants it, if he goes out he goes out and I feel like that sends an incredibly strong message to the top five in the division if I can get a finish over a guy like Al.

"Whether it's knockout, whether it's submission, if I can put him away – he went five rounds with Cowboy [Donald Cerrone], five rounds with Khabib (Nurmagomedov); these are some of the best guys in the world, that's five rounds with the champ – if I can put him away, if I can finish him, the division will definitely have to pay me my dues."