Dan Hooker has seemingly noted his surprise at Islam Makhachev receiving a UFC lightweight title shot at UFC 280.

Over the course of the last few months, Islam Makhachev has been relentlessly campaigning for a shot at the UFC lightweight championship. Now, with a ten-fight win streak to his name, he’ll get what he’s been waiting for as he prepares to lock horns with Charles Oliveira at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi.

‘Do Bronx’ is currently viewed by many as the champion despite the strap technically being vacant, whereas this is Islam’s first chance at winning the gold.

His last few outings have seen him defeat Dan Hooker and Bobby Green, and based on the following remarks from Hooker during an interview with Submission Radio, ‘Hangman’ is pretty surprised that the UFC has decided to reward him in this way.

“When you take care of yourself you can move pretty quickly. All these opportunities come up, and I would jump on all these opportunities. But then you see the guys ahead of you playing the game very smart and getting further. And it’s not like they’re any more skillful or better or levels ahead of you, bu they’re just playing the game a lot smarter. When you’ve got a guy fighting for a title and he’s coming off the back of two good stylistic match-ups on short notice, that’s wild… So it’s just funny when you step back and observe that and think well, maybe I have all the skills and I just need to play the game like everyone else is playing it.”

Quotes via Sportskeeda

Do you think Dan Hooker has a point? What are the odds of Islam Makhachev dominating Charles Oliveira when the two meet for the 155-pound strap later this year? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments!