There were several big winners on July 7th at UFC 226. Two of which were lightweight fighters who could potentially cross paths one day.

In fact, that’s exactly what Dan Hooker’s coach Eugene Bareman hopes happens next for his fighter.

Few lightweights have been as red-hot as the New Zealander has been lately as he now rides a four-fight winning streak that consists of three KO/TKOs and one submission. His most recent coming over Gilbert Burns at UFC 226.

Later that night another lightweight got a very big and much-needed win. And with both fighters winning, Hooker’s coach believes that’s a logical next fight to make for each man as he told MMAFighting.

“I like the Anthony Pettis fight next, that’s what I was thinking the next day,” Bareman said, “I think Dan likes that fight as well. Dan’s a hard man to read sometimes, but I think he’d like that fight. You know how it is, we want top-10 guys, so any of them will do. We just want the opportunity.

Obviously, I think Dan can beat him. I think with Dan’s style against Anthony’s style, there will be a lot of things we can take advantage of. It would be a good fight for the fans and the promotion too. Anthony came out of his fight pretty unscathed too, so I think that fight is a real possibility. Off the top of my head, that’s the only matchup I can think of.”

The former UFC champion and last WEC lightweight champion, Pettis defeated Michael Chiesa via second-round submission in their UFC 226 clash. This win was only Pettis’ second against a top 10 opponent since 2014 and only his third win overall in his last eight outings.

Unfortunately for Hooker, Pettis appears to have his sights set on two different fan-friendly fighters for his next fight as he recently called out Al Iaquinta and Nate Diaz.

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 7/16/2018