City Kickboxing head coach Eugene Bareman isn’t putting too much stock in his pupil, [autotag]Dan Hooker[/autotag]’s, loss to Michael Chandler at UFC 257.
Hooker was stopped in the first round of his lightweight bout against former Bellator champion Chandler in the co-main event this past Saturday in Abu Dhabi. The defeat put Hooker on a two-fight skid, which includes a loss to Dustin Poirier last year.
Although this is the first time Hooker has back-to-back defeats in his six-year UFC career, Bareman thinks that’s just the nature of the game when you’re part of the elite.
“Top 15 guys, nothing separates them,” Bareman said on Combat TV. “Like I said, it’s equivalent to a 100-meter sprint. Between No. 1 and No. 10, there’s less than a second difference.
“So it’s not any different in the top 10, top five of the UFC. You’re separated by nothing. On any particular day, anyone can win, anyone can be champion. It’s just how close it is. That’s just how it is at the top end.”
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That same night at UFC 257, former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor was also stopped, falling short against Poirier in the main event.
Bareman like that matchup as both fighters are coming off defeats and reiterates that defeats mean very little in MMA.
“A lot has to come together for these fights to get made, but that’s definitely a possibility, so I’ll definitely put that out there,” Bareman said regarding the McGregor matchup. “Like I said, anything can happen. We obviously didn’t expect to lose, Conor didn’t expect to lose. This game is ruthless, but the flip side of it is that this isn’t boxing.
“This is the UFC, and in the UFC the best fight the best straight away. There’s no maneuvering and you have to wait five years for Anthony Joshua to fight Tyson Fury. It’s none of that stuff. You get in the UFC, and you fight the best straight away. And for that reason, one loss doesn’t mean anything. In boxing, they put a lot more on that, but this is MMA. You’re forced to fight the best straight away. One loss for Conor, one loss for Dan, it doesn’t mean anything. Just like Conor lost before, just like Dustin lost before, just like Michael Chandler has lost before.”
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