Las Vegas — Two years ago, Chase Hooper submitted Clay Guida in a grappling match, landing a rarely seen calf slicer. At UFC 310, the pair featured on the preliminary card in a proper fight, and Hooper again landed a submission win.
This time, it was an arm-bar in the opening round, one that earned Hooper a Performance of the Night bonus. The fight also marked his return to the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, where he made his UFC debut.
Having seen Guida fight for years, Hooper (15-3-1) did what he could to not be star-struck in the octagon, or caught watching his opponent. “I felt like I didn’t really want to go in there giving him the respect of being a Hall of Famer, the respect of being a 36-fight UFC veteran. Just treat it like any other fight.”
Hooper hails from Enumclaw, Washington and the UFC recently announced the UFC Seattle card for 2025. That’s a card Hooper wants to be part of. As to who he might face, “I don’t know,” Hooper told Cageside Press on Saturday. “Just an intriguing match-up. The thing about this sport is that you want people to care about your fights. So I want to fight people that people want to watch fight. Everybody was in there cheering for Clay Guida, because they love Clay Guida. So being a part of that fight makes people want to watch it. I want match-ups like that.”
“I feel like that’s the biggest thing in this sport— it’s still entertainment. So I want an exciting match-up, I want somebody that will engage in the grappling, I want somebody that will engage in the standup. So yeah, we’ll see.”
Watch the full UFC 310 post-fight press conference with Chase Hooper above.
