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It has been a long journey full of ups and downs for Dan Hooker to work his back into the top five of the lightweight division.

After defeating Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 305, he’s riding a three-fight winning streak which has seen him bounce back from consecutive losses.

Hooker, at one stage, had just one win in his last five Octagon outings and that came after he made it into the top five for the first time in his career. And in his opinion, that skid was caused by a few crucial mistakes he made.

He has learned a lot in this four-year-period and is now confident that he won’t make the same mistakes that he did last time.

Dan Hooker Says That Fighting Michael Chandler At UFC 257 Was A Mistake On His Part

Hooker is now seemingly on the verge of what could be a title eliminator against the likes of Charles Oliveira or Justin Gaethje.

Though he took big fights against Dustin Poirier and the debuting Michael Chandler the last time he was in this position, he believes that the latter in particular was a mistake.

“Iron” Mike would hit the ground running in the promotion by stopping the Kiwi fighter in the opening round in Abu Dhabi.

Hooker didn’t need to risk his ranking against a new arrival like Chandler, even if competing in the co-main event of a Conor McGregor card was a big opportunity for him.

The major issue with taking this fight is that it took place during the COVID-19 pandemic where New Zealand had very strict regulations, which compromised his preparations.

Having admitted in an interview with ESPN Australia that he has a whole new level of respect for the team around him, Hooker said that he has learned from the missteps that he has made in his career and isn’t going to waste this opportunity.

“I kind of have learnt that from my first rodeo, is to just kind of not do anything dumb this time around. I mean the last time I was number five, I agreed to fight Michael Chandler. Gave Michael Chandler a shot, it was his first fight in the UFC, I flew to Abu Dhabi so other side of the world with absolutely no coaches and went and fought him with a guy I’d been training for six months in my corner. so it was not the smartest of decisions so I guess this time around, I’m just not gonna do anything dumb or sell my title shot again.”

Read also: Israel Adesanya’s Coach Says Du Plessis Defeat Better Than ‘Unexplainable’ Strickland Upset: ‘It Was A Good Loss…’

Continue Reading Dan Hooker On Learning His Lessons From Initial Top Five Stint, Vows Not To ‘Sell His Title Shot Again’ at MMA News.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal won’t be making his return from retirement as scheduled at the upcoming BKFC 66 card on Sept. 13 in Hollywood, Fla.

The Bellator and Strikeforce veteran, who last competed in 2019, suffered an injury in training that forced him off BKFC 66, where he was expected to face BKFC champion Dave Mundell. Promotion officials confirmed the news to MMA Fighting on Wednesday.

Lawal’s comeback arose unexpectedly after he retired five years ago mainly due to a long list of injuries that continued to pile up over the years. Following the end of his fighting career, Lawal turned his attention to coaching, where he’s become one of the lead instructors at American Top Team in Florida.

With his body healed up and still training alongside many of the top fighters in the world, Lawal decided to return to action but told MMA Fighting that he isn’t planning on sticking around for more than maybe a couple of fights.

Now it appears he’ll have to wait until a later date to make that return.

As for Mundell, he won’t stay on the Sept. 13 card against a new opponent but instead is expected to shift to a different BKFC event later in the year.

BKFC 66 moves forward with Alberto Blas defending his bantamweight title against Ryan Reber, while Howard Davis takes on James Brown in the new co-main event.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Kayla Harrison has nothing but respect for Alex Pereira.

Earlier this year, Harrison and Pereira shared a fight card for the first time, with both picking up big wins at UFC 300. That evening, Harrison made her UFC and women’s bantamweight debut with a second-round submission of former champion Holly Holm, and Pereira successfully defended his light heavyweight title with a first-round knockout of former champion Jamahal Hill. After the event was over, the two shared a moment backstage where Harrison — a two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo — even saw fit to give Pereira a yellow belt, despite “Poatan” not using any grappling skills in his UFC 300 matchup.

Speaking recently with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Harrison explained why.

“A yellow belt is a joke, obviously,” Harrison told said. “You don’t normally give adults yellow belts, so that was part of it. … And to be fair to him, he was showing me the videos of him training and he was kicking [ass]. I wish that he would release this one, oh my God — he did the move I taught him and then he did the move you do if the move doesn’t work. I was like, ‘Dude, you look like a judoka!’ It’s crazy how fast he picks stuff up. He looked like a legit judo [player]. He foot-swept the shit out of this kid. Like slipping on a banana peel.

“So I gave him a yellow belt as a joke.”

Like Harrison, Pereira also came to MMA after an extensive career in another combat sport: Kickboxing. A two-division GLORY champion, Pereira only joined UFC in 2021 and has already carved out a Hall of Fame worthy career, winning titles in two weight classes, headlining multiple marquee events, and earning Fighter of the Year honors in 2022. He’s also become one of the biggest stars in all of MMA and is the current frontrunner for 2024 Fighter of the Year honors as well — and Harrison couldn’t be happier for him.

“He’s literally living his best life, isn’t he?” Harrison said. “He doesn’t speak English but his character comes across. I think that’s what makes a superstar special: You can feel their aura and their character. I don’t even know if you call it charisma, but that thing. He has charisma.

“I’m just happy for him. When you hear his story and when you hear — he probably doesn’t talk about it a lot but he was an alcoholic and he started competing. Dude, that’s badass. I just love to see it.”

Pereira recently headlined UFC 303, knocking out Jiri Prochazka in their 205-pound title rematch. Afterward, Pereira said he was open to defending his title against Magomed Ankalaev, or perhaps moving up to heavyweight in an attempt to become the first three-division champion in UFC history.

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UFC

Cris Cyborg will finally get her chance to make her long-awaited Professional Fighters League (PFL) debut on Oct. 29, 2024 when she goes toe-to-toe with the promotion’s reigning women’s featherweight champion, Larissa Pacheco, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

It will by Cyborg’s first-fight since dismantling Cat Zingano at Bellator 300 in Oct. 2023 (see it again here), while Pacheco was last seen defeating Marina Mokhnatkina at the finals of the 2023 PFL tournament.

For Pacheco — who is on a 10-fight win streak — facing Cyborg is a huge challenge and would catapult her career, but admits that facing her was never exactly a “dream” because she knew the chances of them ever facing one another were slim since they could never really get in the same organization.

“[This fight] is not a dream for me, it’s not something I’ve looked up to my entire career because she wasn’t even in the PFL until this year,” Pacheco said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “But a friend of mine reminded me that she told me, seven years ago, that she was a fan of Cyborg, and I told her we’d be fighting one day. And it’s happening now.”

Pacheco — who has two big wins over Kayla Harrison — says she knows if she defeats Cyborg the excuses are sure to come up, but it’s something she says won’t bother her since opinions are everywhere. All she knows is that fight fans are in for a treat when the two aggressive strikers throw down.

“We have an idea of how the fight will play out, but we never know for sure,” she continued. “We have a similar style, we’re both aggressive and walk forward the entire time, no turning back. For some people, it’s like a lottery. Who goes down first? I don’t know, it’s hard to say, but all I know is that we’ll both give our all in there. Cris has an unique style and will do everything she can to win, so it’s going to be a historic fight.”

Headlining the “Battle of the Giants” pay-per-view (PPV) fight card will be a heavyweight showdown between PFL champion, Renan Ferreira, and former UFC 265-pound title holder, Francis Ngannou, who will also be making his debut for the promotion.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Khabib Nurmagomedov isn’t a fighter who lives with regrets.

As much as he accomplished on his way to retiring as the undefeated, undisputed UFC lightweight champion with a perfect 29-0 record, there were always fights Nurmagomedov wanted that just didn’t happen. Perhaps the name at the top of that list is former UFC welterweight king George St-Pierre, who was always someone Nurmagomedov admired and considered a legitimate challenge.

The name that probably comes up the most, however, is Tony Ferguson because he was scheduled to face Nurmagomedov a total five times while both were competing near the top of the lightweight division. While there’s a part of Nurmagomedov that wishes he got the chance to face Ferguson, he also considered that fight a mismatch in his favor, so it doesn’t carry the same weight with him that it does with fans.

“I feel a little bit sad, but at the same time, I always understand my game it’s the worst for him,” Nurmagomedov told the Inspire Me podcast. “He don’t have wrestling. He don’t have grappling. What’s he going to do with me? How is he going to stop me? Only chance how he can stop me, it was only a lucky punch.

“Like with everybody, like with Conor [McGregor], with [Dustin] Poirier, with Justin Gaethje, everybody talks about, ‘Oh, they can stop him if Khabib [going to get caught with] a lucky punch.’ But other stuff, how’s he going to stop me?”

While Ferguson was definitely the most accomplished 155-pound contender that he never fought, Nurmagomedov always felt confident he would handle that challenge like all of the others in his career.

Nurmagomedov only lost a couple of rounds throughout his entire UFC run and he just doesn’t believe Ferguson had the weapons to beat him.

“When he fought with Danny Castllo, [Beneil] Dariush, Justin Gaethje, Charles Oliveira, all these guys mauled him,” Nurmagomedov said. “He didn’t have wrestling defense. He didn’t have good grappling. My fighting game, it was the worst for him.”

It’s wildly unusual for any fight to get booked five times and never actually happen, but Nurmagomedov knows he and Ferguson both wield some responsibility for those cancellations.

That’s another reason why Nurmagomedov can’t look back with regret, because ultimately it just wasn’t meant to be when it comes to this particular rivalry.

“I’m a little bit sad, but what can we do?” Nurmagomedov said. “If God has some plan, nobody can change this. We were supposed to fight five times. He pulled out, I have injuries, this is not under my control.

“I feel a little bit sad, but at the same time, [I] showed who had what level.”

While Nurmagomedov retired after his third title defense in 2020, Ferguson remained active but has fallen on harder times of late. He’s now suffered eight consecutive losses in a row, and all signs point toward his time with UFC coming to an end.

Ferguson has hinted that he plans to continue fighting outside UFC, but his struggles didn’t stop him from firing back at Nurmagomedov’s suggestion that his only hope in that potential matchup was a lucky punch.

“Lucky punch now … [I] was going to leave you alone but ew,” Ferguson wrote on Instagram. “Just couldn’t help it. Ya [fat f*ck]. What a f*cking p*ssy, coward like chicken. Keep hiding Khabieber 29-1.

“Until further notice, let ol’ fathead know what time it is crew.”

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