Dan Hooker jokingly dismisses Daniel Cormier’s matchmaking, DC responds

UFC lightweight Dan Hooker and former two-weight UFC champion Daniel Cormier have a difference of opinion when it comes to who Hooker should face next inside the Octagon.

The Kiwi star was able to defeat Al Iaquinta at UFC 243 in Melbourne, Australia to establish himself as one to watch at 155 pounds. The next natural step would be for him to face someone higher up in the rankings, but with Raging Al fighting down the rankings to face Hooker, a lot of fans believe Dan should be doing the very same thing.

One person who believes in that theory is Cormier who threw out the suggestion of Islam Makhachev, whom DC knows quite well.

@danawhite @seanshelby this really does make all the sense in the world fellas pic.twitter.com/aTmbkSJ01F

— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) October 8, 2019

Dan I’m saying it makes sense bud, you guys are both closely ranked. Both on streaks. Al fought you when you were ranked lower. Between the two let’s see who gets that top 5 guy. Make sense? https://t.co/wzlCHdJEso

— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) October 8, 2019

The Hangman was quick to shoot down the idea on Twitter, as he did when Makhachev himself proposed a fight between the two. With Makhachev being ranked 15th and Hooker at 7th, the comparison that is being made has some validity to it with Cormier being ranked 1st at heavyweight and Shamil Abdurakhimov being positioned in 9th. Of course, the circumstances are very different.

The talk of a potential UFC event in Auckland next year is rife after both Hooker and Adesanya were able to get the job done at Marvel Stadium, but with Israel being linked with a fight against Paulo Costa in Las Vegas in early 2020, Hooker would most likely be given the headline spot.

With six wins in his last seven, four of which were knockouts, few could argue that he doesn’t deserve a shot in such a position.

Cormier’s future, on the other hand, seems to be set in stone as the UFC moves towards booking the third and final fight in the trilogy series between DC and Stipe Miocic. The expectation is that it will be the last fight of Daniel’s career, as he attempts to once again become the UFC heavyweight champion.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 10/9/2019.