Dan Hooker will return to featherweight to take on Arnold Allen in London in March. Photo / Getty Images
Dan Hooker will return to featherweight to take on Arnold Allen in London in March. Photo / Getty Images
Sitting and waiting has never been Dan Hooker's strong suit.
From the time he made his UFC debut in 2014, Hooker has taken on all challengers. Anyone, anytime, anywhere.
But after losing three of his last four bouts, matched up against three of the top five lightweights in the UFC,the 31-year-old was left in a predicament.
If he stayed at lightweight (70.3kg), he was probably going to be the gatekeeper to the top half of the division for the next little while. Although still ranked at No 8, his opportunities to advance his position and get closer to a world title shot were not looking great.
Instead, Hooker will go back to the weight class he made his UFC debut in, returning to featherweight (65.7kg) for a blockbuster clash against England's Arnold Allen in London on March 20.
Allen, ranked No 7 in the featherweight division and riding an eight-fight winning streak, is a welcome challenge for Hooker, with a win putting the Kiwi into the title conversation.
Hooker said dropping back to a lighter weight class was an easy decision to make.
"It's not that I don't think I can beat any of those guys in that (lightweight) division, that's not the reason I went down," he said.
"The reality of the situation is three of the top five you've got losses against. So, you would have to wait until the landscape of the division changed. For the next year or 18 months, you would have to tread water or go backwards and fight, and at the stage I'm at now in my career, that doesn't get me out of bed like it would have in the past.
Dan Hooker made his UFC debut in Auckland in 2014, fighting in the featherweight division. Photo / Photosport
"Instead of that, you can go down to a weight class you've fought at in the past, one you feel very comfortable fighting at and go straight back in the mix. You're getting a guy on an eight-fight win streak who you get a win over, you're in title contention after one win.
"That's what it is. You want to be world champion - it's like, how do you get there as soon as possible? The move to featherweight is exciting in itself because you put yourself straight back in the mix. I'm not moving down there to tread water; I'm moving down there to work my way towards something that I want. That's my plan. I have a plan to be world champion."
While most people don't look back once they've moved up a weight class, Hooker has no issues with dropping the extra weight to make the featherweight limit.
After putting himself through a trial weight cut in Las Vegas last year to see how his body would handle it, Hooker satisfied all the parties he needed to in terms of whether he could make the weight safely.
Against Allen, Hooker is sure to be tested – and in a somewhat familiar fashion. The 28-year-old Brit has a style a lot like Hooker's. He likes to fight from the outside, using his length and speed to his advantage, while he also has a sneakily good grappling game with a tight guillotine choke.
All of the same can be said of Hooker's game, making the bout one fans are eager to see.
