Las Vegas, NV – UFC lightweight Dan Hooker knows he has a big fight at UFC 290 against Jalin Turner on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena, but you wouldn’t know it from his demeanor at media day.
“Yeah definitely feels like a big fight,” Hooker told reporters including Cageside Press on Wednesday.
Hooker (22-12) has had a rough run as of late going 2-4 in his last six bouts including a loss to the current champion, Islam Makhachev, which saw Hooker drop out of the top 10 in the rankings. This fight against Turner is about more than money or putting on a show for Hooker.
“That’s why I’m fighting Jalin Turner. That’s why I’m fighting the guy that’s going to get me back into the top 10, and I’m not fighting him for fun nor for money. There’s plenty of other guys on the roster that I could be doing that for,” he said.
“I’m fighting Jalin Turner, very talented kid, to get myself back in that (title) conversation. A win over Jalin, specially an impressive performance, I think it does that.”
Hooker is no longer interested in fighting just to fight or solely to please the fans. It’s about titles, gold, belts, and status in the UFC now.
“That’s the position I’ve found myself in. Everything I ever asked for from the sport over the years like I got. Like ‘man I want to be a UFC fighter’. You get there and you have to set like a new target. ‘Man I want to be in the rankings. I want to be rich!’,” Hooker said.
“Man I want to be the champ. That’s the only reason I’m here.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Dan Hooker above. He takes on Jalin Turner at UFC 290 on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.
