Dan Hooker is not particularly pleased about the prospect of five rounds in a co-main event against Bobby Green. It was initially expected that Hooker’s bout against Green would be the event’s headliner at UFC on ESPN 52, scheduled to take place at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, on December 2. However, the fight has been relegated to a co-main event, albeit still scheduled for five rounds, and Hooker is far from happy about missing out on the various benefits that come with headlining an event.
As Hooker told the NZ Herald, he’s quite miffed at the development. From his perspective, it seemed like a situation where he was being asked to do “twice as much work for the same money.” Hooker continued to voice his feelings, stating “After three I’m going home. The main event is five rounds. You can’t chuck it to co-main and still keep the five rounds. It’s a sport of risk versus reward.” He expressed his frustration at not getting the same reward while taking equal risk, which to him, didn’t make sense.
Furthermore, Hooker stated that a lightweight “clash between Beneil Dariush and Arman Tsarkyan will now serve as the main event.” Despite his veteran status within City Kickboxing, Hooker confesses that this booking has left him unmotivated. He however, assures that he will show up and fight, even though it lacks appeal to him. Hooker proposed the option of a “no-round, no-time limit” fight against Green as an alternative option to this five-round co-main event.
In conclusion, Hooker envisions an “old school” fight where they could “scrap the rounds altogether and just do a 25-minute fight, a half an hour fight.” Hooker is currently maintaining a two-fight win streak after his recent split decision victory over Jalin Turner at UFC 290 in July. On the other hand, his upcoming opponent Green is fresh off consecutive stoppage wins, including a knockout of Grant Dawson in a main-event clash last month.