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New Zealand lightweight Dan Hooker has emerged as a potential contender to fight Conor McGregor after the Irishman’s scheduled contest against Michael Chandler fell through.
The 36-year-old first agreed to fight Chandler in 2021, but the American recently decided to face off against Charles Oliveira at UFC 309 after McGregor injured his toe in the lead-up to the scheduled bout last June.
With McGregor supposedly still on track to make his UFC return in early 2025, the former lightweight and featherweight champion is once again looking for an opponent, and Hooker claims that a fight against him “makes a lot of sense”.
“He’s without a fight. I know Conor’s hungry to fight, and fight someone that he can get something from and makes a lot of sense,” Hooker told Submission Radio.
“That’s why I feel like Chandler kind of sitting there and waiting, and not staying active, you kind of lose.
“What does he get out of beating Chandler? He knocks out Michael Chandler in the first round, Conor McGregor doesn’t even get in that top five off of that performance.
“It stopped making sense for Conor McGregor to fight Michael Chandler.”
Hooker added that he is “looking at early next year” for his next fight, which could tie in with McGregor’s scheduled return time. McGregor has not fought since 2021, when he broke his leg in a loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264.
Meanwhile, the 34-year-old Hooker, who is 14-8 in his UFC career so far, is ranked fifth in the lightweight division, one place above Chandler, after beating Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 305.
He has previously lost against Chandler, in 2021, as well as against Poirier – who is ranked fourth in the division – and current champion Islam Makhachev.
‘The Hangman’ also expressed his bafflement at Chandler’s scheduled bout with Oliveira.
“That’s a big fight for the division. But I don’t know – it’s a weird fight,” added Hooker. “I get why Chandler would want the fight. Obviously, if he gets by Oliveira, the UFC has kind of promised him a title shot, I’m sure of it. I don’t know too much about what Charles will get out of it.”
