Dan Hooker Throws Down the Gauntlet: Calling Out “Dumb F***” Arman Tsarukyan for a November Showdown
Dan Hooker, never one to keep things quiet, has announced he’s back in the gym and has some very particular ideas about what – and more specifically, who – comes next. Despite what you might think, he hasn’t spent his time off idly checking Instagram stories or deciding on new tattoos. No, he’s got Arman Tsarukyan’s name circled in red for a November showdown, ideally on the big New York card. In his own words, “I’m THE ONLY ONE that’s going to fight you, you dumb f***!”
Dan Hooker calls out Arman Tsarukyan
You can’t accuse Dan Hooker of a lack of ambition. After a stint on the sidelines with a hand injury, he’s hungry for a top contender. “You’re going to need to get another one in and take one of these big-name guys out,” he said, before you get near any flashy pay-per-view title opportunities.
With the lightweight landscape changing – Islam Makhachev moving up, Topuria champ, Oliveira and Holloway circling – Hooker has decided the queue-jumping strategy is simple: call out the hardest fight no one else wants.
It’s not bluster. Arman Tsarukyan, now the top contender after a run that includes wins over Beneil Dariush and Charles Oliveira, has been left in bureaucratic limbo since withdrawing from his scheduled title shot due to a back injury. That slip was costly: UFC boss Dana White made clear that Tsarukyan would now need to beat another top challenger to earn a fresh crack at the belt, even as Topuria swooped in for gold and Makhachev chased new weight class glory.
So the Armenian wrestler waits, not-so-patiently, for anyone to step up – but few seem inclined to risk it.
Enter Dan Hooker, ranked #6 and surging off a win streak that’s put his name right back among the sharks. If you’re sold on fighters who want only money fights and drama, Hooker’s approach is refreshingly direct: “He’s the best at winning fights… that’s been my approach since I first stepped foot in the UFC, I want to fight the best guys. And I think Arman’s the best guy. So, that’s the fight that I want.” He said in an interview on Submission Radio.
He also knows exactly what he wants for his trouble. “If you want me to go to work for twice as long, pay me twice as much,” Hooker quipped when the issue of main event rounds came up. “20 grand for an extra 10 minutes is the going rate.”
Of course, there’s still business to sort in the division. Tsarukyan might be keen for a higher-ranked opportunity or a shot at revenge, but with everyone else busy or uninterested, Hooker stands out as the “Voldemort of the lightweight division” – nobody wants to say his name except for the guy willing to share a locked cage. Hooker notes he’s the “only guy that makes sense” calling for Arman, and if he wins, he propels himself straight into the title conversation.
Don’t expect this to be all handshakes, either. The social media sniping has already warmed up, with Tsarukyan firing barbs about Hooker’s injury woes and Hooker not holding back his opinion of Arman’s reputation as a tricky out whom “no one likes.”
So, will the UFC brass see sense and book two men who, frankly, both sound craving for someone just to say yes? “I’ve already set my mind to something, bro. And when I set my mind to something, you become a very hard person to stop,” says Hooker.
