Kiwi UFC star Dan Hooker has laid to rest speculation that he may hang his gloves up for good.
After suffering a TKO loss to Michael Chandler at UFC 257 late last month, Hooker sparked concern over his future in the sport when he took his gloves off and leftthem in the octagon. Usually, an indication a fighter is considering hanging the gloves up for good, Hooker said this week that it was a move made out of sheer frustration and he was not retiring.
The gesture came after the 30-year-old lived out his worst competitive fear. In his co-main event bout against Chandler, Hooker was caught with a left hook midway through the first round and the fight was stopped soon after.
Going into the bout with a 20-9 professional record, Hooker had experienced losses in the past. However, it was the first time Hooker had been stopped by a head strike. Hooker said it wasn't the fact he lost, but the way he lost that was so frustrating.
"I was just out there moving; I felt pretty sharp and felt like I could see everything. I just got caught with a punch I didn't see," Hooker said.
"Then just standing there, feeling like you haven't been in a fight...that was always my biggest fear in combat sports - to be knocked out with a punch without getting into a fight.
"Now that I've experienced it, I can't say it's any worse than any of my other losses."
Dan Hooker takes his gloves off after his first-round loss to Michael Chandler. Photo / Getty Images
In the fallout of the loss, many fans of the sport indicated they thought Hooker looked flat, tired and far from his best in the bout.
However, that wasn't the case. Hooker said he felt sharp inside the octagon and mixed martial arts was a game of inches in which crazy things can happen at any given moment.
"People need a reason, right? They need a justification for why things happen. They're looking to get an excuse out of you," Hooker said.
"You can go back and look at any fight I've lost; I've never once given a justification or given a reason, because the only people that are looking for a justification for a loss are looking for it because they need a reason to support you and those people, I feel like they don't truly believe in you anyway.
"I take sole and full responsibility for the loss, and I will make the changes, get better and improve, and the people that truly support me and really get behind me, they don't need a justification anyway – they're going to support you regardless. Those are the people I fight for.
"I believe in myself and, at the end of the day, that's the only thing you need."
Hooker was given a medical suspension of 45 days with 30 days no contact after the TKO loss, but had no intention of getting back to work immediately.
Instead, despite not having any concussion symptoms, he would be taking a cautious approach with his return to full training as to avoid any risk of triggering that.
"There's no machine you can sit in, they put it on your head and find you don't have concussion. That doesn't exist," Hooker said.
"If you want to lie about your concussion symptoms and get back out there, you can do that very quickly. Concussion is something you have to be very honest with yourself about, which is difficult for a lot of athletes."
