UFC lightweight contender Dan Hooker is open to fighting Tony Ferguson after Dustin Poirier had contract talks fail with the promotion.
UFC president Dana White recently said that an intriguing lightweight bout between Ferguson and Poirier was “probably” ticketed for UFC 254. Ferguson has already agreed to the fight but the promotion apparently cannot come to terms on a contract with Poirier and it’s not looking increasingly likely the UFC will move on from the matchup.
If the UFC can’t come to terms with Poirier fighting Ferguson, then they will have to find someone else to fight Ferguson, and one of those men could potentially be Hooker, who just lost a close decision to Poirier in a “Fight of the Year” candidate back in June. Speaking to Submission Radio, Hooker’s coach Eugene Bareman confirmed his team is interested in the Ferguson fight, though they don’t believe UFC 254 is a realistic date.
“October is a bit early for us, otherwise we would jump in there straight away for sure. But if they can push it back. Dan just got off concussion protocol now, so of this week. So, he’s only just started back training. So, obviously October might be a hard push. He would do it. I would have to talk him out of it, but he would probably do it one hundred percent. But Dan’s just back now, he’s getting fit again, it’s good to have him back in the gym. So, yeah, if they can’t come to terms, and it sounds like they haven’t come to terms, then we’ll jump in there and fight Tony for sure,” Bareman said (via LowKickMMA.com).
With both Ferguson and Hooker ranked in the top-10 at 155lbs, a fight between the two certainly makes plenty of sense, especially if the UFC can’t agree to terms on Poirier. Both Ferguson and Hooker are actually coming off of losses in their last fight, and in some ways, it makes more sense to match up two losers instead of a winner and a loser. Plus, this would be a great matchup regardless.
Keep in mind, the potential Ferguson vs. Poirier fight isn’t completely dead just yet, and Ferguson was even seen on social media recently stumping for his rival to get more money from the UFC. But if the UFC matchmakers choose to fully move on from contract negotiations, don’t be surprised if Hooker is offered the bout against Ferguson instead.
Would you like to see Tony Ferguson vs. Dan Hooker if the Dustin Poirier fight can’t be saved?