Dan Hooker – Syndication Server

Dan Hooker on fight vs. Justin Gaethje being five rounds: ‘UFC wants to see someone die’

Dan Hooker guarantees maximum violence in his fight against Justin Gaethje at UFC 313.

[autotag]Dan Hooker[/autotag] guarantees maximum violence in his fight against [autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag] at UFC 313.

Hooker (24-12 MMA, 14-8 UFC) and Gaethje (25-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) will throw down in a five-round lightweight co-main event (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) March 8 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Gaethje has 13 post-fight UFC bonuses to his name, whereas Hooker has engaged in some grueling battles against the likes of Dustin Poirier and Jalin Turner. That’s why, when the UFC offered him Gaethje in a five-round battle, “The Hangman” knew exactly what they’re looking for.

“I just think the UFC wants to see someone die,” Hooker said on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “I think they just want to finish it. They want this fight for the fans, as well. They want to see someone go down. They want to see blood. They want to see Rounds 4 and 5.

“I’m happy to oblige for money. If I was back in the kitchen factory, and I stayed an extra couple of hours, I’d expect another couple of extra bucks in my back pocket, brother. I’m not here for fun. I’m not here because I like you guys. It’s prizefighting, brother.”

Hooker re-entered the upper echelon of the lightweight division after three straight wins over Claudio Puelles, Turner, and most recently a Fight of the Night over Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 305 in August.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 313.

Justin Gaethje vs. Dan Hooker: Odds and what to know ahead of UFC 313 co-main event

Justin Gaethje is a slight favorite to beat Dan Hooker at UFC 313.

An all-violence lightweight matchup will co-headline UFC 313.

Justin Gaethje vs. Dan Hooker preview

After knocking out Dustin Poirier with a head kick to claim the BMF title at UFC 291, [autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag] (25-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) lost his belt to Max Holloway by knockout at UFC 300 in April.

Meanwhile, [autotag]Dan Hooker[/autotag] (24-12 MMA, 14-8 UFC) is enjoying his best run in years after notching three-straight wins over Claudio Puelles, Jalin Turner, and most recently Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 305.

Justin Gaethje vs. Dan Hooker odds

According to BetMGM, former interim champion Gaethje is a slight -160 favorite over City Kickboxing’s Hooker, who’s listed as a +130 underdog.

How to watch Justin Gaethje vs. Dan Hooker at UFC 313

When: Saturday, March 8, 2025
Where: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas
Broadcast/streaming: ESPN+ pay-per-view

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 313.

UFC 313 lineup reaction: Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev, Justin Gaethje vs. Dan Hooker set

Pereira vs. Ankalaev and Gaethje vs. Hooker headline UFC 313. Were these the right fights to make? We discuss on “Spinning Back Clique.”

UFC 313 got some heavy hitters.

The promotion announced last week the main and co-main event for their 313th pay-per-view event, which takes place March 8 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+). Headlining the card, UFC light heavyweight champion [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] defends his belt against the man many see as the biggest threat to his belt, [autotag]Magomed Ankalaev[/autotag]. And in the co-main, fan-favorite fighters [autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag] and [autotag]Dan Hooker[/autotag] clash in a five-round lightweight scrap.

How good are these bookings? Were these the right fights to make? Who will come out on top?

MMA Junkie’s Brian “Goze” Garcia, Mike Bohn, Danny Segura and host Gorgeous George discuss and break down the pair of matchups that will headline UFC 313.

Watch their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s complete episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below on YouTube or in podcast form.

https://youtube.com/live/xkFxuHJDreg

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Spinning Back Clique REPLAY: Islam Makhachev, Merab Dvalishvili defend titles at UFC 311, Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev, more

On “Spinning Back Clique,” our panel discusses the results from UFC 311, including Islam Makhachev and Merab Dvalishvili’s big wins, and much more.

Check out this week’s “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly live show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts.

This week’s panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Mike Bohn and Danny Segura will join host “Gorgeous” George Garcia live at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) to discuss and debate the following topics:

[autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag] and [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] retained their championship belts Saturday in the headlining bouts of UFC 311. Makhachev submitted [autotag]Renato Moicano[/autotag] to defend his UFC lightweight belt for a fourth time, and Dvalishvili outpointed [autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag] to complete his first title defense. We react and discuss what’s next for the four men involved in the main and co-main event of UFC 311.
Plenty happened at UFC 311 outside the two championship fights. [autotag]Jiri Prochazka[/autotag] knocked out fellow former champion Jamahal Hill to bounce back from his stoppage loss to Alex Pereira; [autotag]Reinier de Ridder[/autotag] quickly submitted Kevin Holland; and [autotag]Payton Talbott[/autotag] suffered his first professional loss to veteran [autotag]Roani Barcelos[/autotag]. We review some of the key results at UFC 311.
UFC 313 has its main and co-main event fights. The promotion announced on Saturday the booking of [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Magomed Ankalaev[/autotag], and [autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Dan Hooker[/autotag]. We react to these bookings and give our early pcisk for the bout.
The free agent market got a lot more interesting this past week. Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion [autotag]Holly Holm[/autotag] was granted her release from the promotion and is looking to keep fighting in MMA – while also picking back up boxing. Additionally, ex-Bellator champion [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] and top Bellator contender [autotag]Aaron Pico[/autotag] were let go from the PFL. We discuss the potential future for these stars.

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Justin Gaethje books date with Dan Hooker at UFC 313 in Las Vegas

UFC 313 now has one of those matchups that gets the “That has Fight of the Night written all over it” attachment.

[autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag] wanted a fight against [autotag]Dan Hooker[/autotag]. He wanted it at UFC 313. If you have 13 post-fight bonuses in 13 UFC fights, you get what you ask for more often than not.

Gaethje (25-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) and Hooker (24-12 MMA, 14-8 UFC) will throw down in a five-round co-main event at UFC 313 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) on March 8 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The UFC announced the matchup during Saturday’s UFC 311 broadcast. The bout will play second billing to a light heavyweight title fight between champion Alex Pereira and Magomeda Ankalaev, which also was announced Saturday.

Gaethje, 36, hasn’t fought since a now-legendary knockout loss to Max Holloway at UFC 300 in April 2024.

New Zealand’s Hooker, 34, has been on the rebound with three straight wins after a rough patch of four losses in five fights. Most recently, he had a Fight of the Night upset win over Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 305 this past August.

With the addition, the UFC 313 lineup now includes:

Champ Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev – for light heavyweight title
Justin Gaethje vs. Dan Hooker
Amanda Lemos vs. Iasmin Lucindo
Bruno Silva vs. Joshua Van
Brunno Ferreira vs. Armen Petrosyan
Chris Gutierrez vs. Jean Matsumoto
Francis Marshall vs. Mairon Santos
Carlos Leal vs. Alex Morono
Ozzy Diaz vs. Djorden Santos
Jhonata Diniz vs. Vitor Petrino

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 313.

Justin Gaethje hints at next UFC opponent and date

Justin Gaethje is prepping to return at UFC 313, and has a good idea who his opponent will be.

[autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag] is prepping to return at UFC 313.

Gaethje (25-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) hasn’t competed since a unforgettable knockout loss to Max Holloway at UFC 300 in April. “The Highlight” has informed the UFC that he’d like to fight on the March 8 card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

“So, there’s no official fight signed, but I told the UFC maybe two, three months ago that March was, you know, the date I was looking for,” Gaethje said on his YouTube channel. “I know there’s a fight March 8 in Las Vegas so, that’s the one I told them I wanted to be on.

“I think they’re figuring out fights right now, but I’m certainly mentally preparing, physically preparing to fight on that date. So, that puts us eight-and-a-half weeks’ out, which means it’s really going to be here.”

Gaethje, 36, is chomping at the bit to come back, but knew he’d have to take an adequate amount of time off after getting knocked out against Holloway. He expects to face [autotag]Dan Hooker[/autotag] (24-12 MMA, 14-8 UFC), who emerged as a top lightweight contender after picking up an upset win over Mateusz Gamrot.

“Coming off a knockout, I’m really excited to get back to training,” Gaethje said. “When you take a loss like that and you’re as competitive as we are, then it lights a fire under your ass, and we’re getting back to work. …So, we’re back to it, back in the swing of things and back getting ready for a specific day, a specific opponent. I think it’s going to be Dan Hooker, but you know, with the UFC, things can always change.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 313.

Dan Hooker: Renato Moicano won’t outgrapple Beneil Dariush, faces hard night at the office at UFC 311

Dan Hooker expects Renato Moicano to struggle against Beneil Dariush at UFC 311.

[autotag]Dan Hooker[/autotag] expects [autotag]Renato Moicano[/autotag] to struggle against [autotag]Beneil Dariush[/autotag] at UFC 311.

Lightweights Moicano (20-5-1 MMA, 12-5 UFC) and Dariush (22-6-1 MMA, 16-6-1 UFC) square off in a lightweight bout on Jan. 18 at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif. (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+).

Moicano and Dariush are currently on vastly different career trajectories. Moicano is on a four-fight winning streak, most recently a dominant stoppage win over Benoit Saint Denis at UFC Fight Night 243. Meanwhile, Dariush is coming off back-to-back first-round knockout losses to Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan.

However, despite his losing skid, Hooker sees Dariush as a bad stylistic matchup for Moicano.

“The way in which (Moicano) beat BSD, (Jalin) Turner and Drew Dober, the style in which he enacted to get those three wins, he cannot do against Beneil Darirush,” Hooker said on Israel Adesanya’s YouTube channel. “He cannot outgrapple Beneil Dariush like he outgrappled those three guys because he’s too good.

“In my opinion, Beneil is technically the best grappler, I would say. Do I see Moicano outgrappling Dariush? Nah. Do I see him even outstriking him? That would be a hard night in the office. Beneil, obviously the question there is about his chin. But is Moicano any way, shape or form a talented striker? No. You cannot say he is.”

Moicano has used his ground game to take out his opponents, but Hooker doesn’t see that being a successful path to victory against Dariush.

“I feel like (Dariush) just shuts Moicano’s game down,” Hooker said. “I feel like positionally, he’s better on the feet. I don’t even see how Moicano gets Beneil to the ground, let alone holding him on the ground. I just believe Beneil shuts Moicano down and kind of cruises to victory and gets back to the win column.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 311.

Dan Hooker not buying UFC champ Ilia Topuria’s lightweight move

Dan Hooker says Ilia Topuria is simply running Conor McGregor’s playbook and doubts the UFC featherweight champ will move up to 155 pounds.

[autotag]Dan Hooker[/autotag] doubts UFC featherweight champion [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] moves up to lightweight.

Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) teased a potential move up to 155 pounds after scoring back-to-back knockouts of Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway. Topuria’s coach cited his weight cut as the main reason for the desired move.

However, Hooker doesn’t think Topuria changes weight classes. He compared his approach to [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag]’s.

“Classic sh*t,” Hooker told Submission Radio. “It’s pretty evident that he’s just working off of McGregor’s playbook. Line 1 in McGregor’s playbook is to keep your name in the headlines. That’s all that I kind of see from it, is Topuria keeping his name in the headlines. The guy doesn’t fight that often. I think he just fights Volk sometime next year, March or April.”

After becoming the first to knock out Holloway this past October at UFC 308, Topuria welcomed a rematch with Volkanovski. Hooker ripped Topuria for contemplating a change of plans after agreeing to fight his City Kickboxing teammate.

“Don’t get in the f*cking cage with him and agree to fight him then, d*ckhead,” Hooker said. “You let him get in the cage, you had a faceoff with him, and you said you’d fight him, man to man? That’s that: You’ve already agreed to a fight, and how are you going to back out of it now?”

Hooker (24-12 MMA, 14-8 UFC) is back in the upper echelon of the UFC lightweight division after three-straight wins over Claudio Puelles, Jalin Turner, and most recently Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 305.

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Dan Hooker on the ‘myth’ of fighting Islam Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov

Dan Hooker believes Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov’s opponents are often intimidated before the fight starts.

[autotag]Dan Hooker[/autotag] believes [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag] and [autotag]Khabib Nurmagomedov[/autotag]’s opponents are often intimidated before the fight starts.

Hooker (24-12 MMA, 14-8 UFC) experienced it first hand when he faced current lightweight champion Makhachev (26-1 MMA, 15-1 UFC) at UFC 267 in October 2021. He was submitted in the first round.

When discussing Charles Oliveira, who was dropped and submitted by Makhachev in their title fight at UFC 280, Hooker explained the mental battle of going up against dominant fighters like Makhachev and Nurmagomedov.

“The myth of it is bigger than the actual task, and they kind of ride off the back of the myth of Khabib, and that’s bled into Makhachev, and you can see it,” Hooker told Submission Radio. “It definitely affected me. It’s bigger than the actual guy. If you just boil it down to the actual guy, it makes it quite a bit simpler.”

Makhachev is expected to make his next title defense in a rematch against Arman Tsarukyan, which is being discussed as the UFC 311 headliner Jan. 18 in Inglewood, Calif. In their first fight, which was Tsarukyan’s UFC debut, Makhachev outgrappled him in a back-and-forth battle.

Hooker predicts their rematch to have a more definitive ending.

“Islam (is) very defensively sound on the feet,” Hooker said. “And I feel like once he has more time to study and break down Arman’s counter-wrestling, I think it will be a more dominant win for Islam in the second fight.”

Since losing to Makhachev, Hooker has won three of his past four, most recently edging out Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 305 in August.

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Dan Hooker takes umbrage with Michael Chandler calling for BMF title after UFC 309

Dan Hooker isn’t a fan of Michael Chandler throwing his name into the hat for a BMF title fight.

[autotag]Dan Hooker[/autotag] isn’t a fan of [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] throwing his name into the hat for a BMF title fight.

Chandler (23-9 MMA, 2-4 UFC) was initially gunning for a title fight with a win over Charles Oliveira Saturday at UFC 309, but after suffering a unanimous decision loss to the Brazilian at Madison Square Garden, the 38-year-old turned his attention to the BMF title, which Max Holloway currently holds.

“Hey, I had a bunch of callouts, I was supposed to show up tonight, do my job, and win the fight,” Chandler said post-fight at UFC 309. “Forget calling out Islam, Charles is doing that next. Maybe Max Holloway for the BMF belt.

“Or, Conor McGregor, if you can ever get your house back in order while us real professionals have been keeping the octagon warm, we’re wondering where you’ve been, Conor. Come back and beat me, if you can!”

Hooker (24-12 MMA, 14-8 UFC), who since losing to Chandler in January 2021 has won four of his past six, criticized Chandler’s callout, and thinks the fans should decide who gets to fight for the BMF title.

“I don’t see Chandler calling for the BMF,” Hooker told Submission Radio. “Why does everyone keep throwing their hands up for the BMF? It’s not up to us. It’s not our title. It’s the BMF. The BMF title is for the fans. It’s up to the fans. People need to stop calling out for the BMF title, brother. That’s the fans’ title – it’s their fun.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.