Dan Hooker responds to Patricio Freire’s claim that he would leave him in a hospital bed

UFC lightweight contender Dan Hooker has issued a response to Bellator double-champ Patricio “Pitbull” Freire who called him out on social media.

Hooker, 30, is hoping to get back into the Octagon sooner rather than later after his unanimous decision loss to Dustin Poirier back in June. Alas, despite the defeat, “Hangman” saw his stock rise significantly after a fight that was dubbed by many as a Fight of the Year contender.

“Pitbull”, on the other hand, has been focusing most of his attention on calling out the likes of Alexander Volkanovski, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Hooker on Twitter.

What are the rules for our fight? Are you going to stand on a chair or do I fight from my knees? 👨‍👦 https://t.co/RHsRK8KLTS

— Dan Hangman Hooker (@danthehangman) August 27, 2020

The Bellator star is well aware of the fact that it’s unlikely he’ll fight any of the aforementioned three men courtesy of him being in a different promotion, but perhaps one day he’ll think about making the jump over to the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Hooker, on the other hand, has his sights set on a few really significant bouts in the wake of his war against Poirier.

“I’ve got my eyes on who I want to fight next, and I think it’s either gonna be Tony or it’s gonna be Oliveira,” he said (via MMA Junkie). “I think either one of those fights is another main event. But then, Oliveira, he’s getting carried away calling out Poirier and calling out Conor (McGregor), and he’s beating around the bush, trying to say anyone except me or Tony,” Hooker said.

“He’s a funny guy. But yeah, I’ll have to wait and see, because obviously Tony makes way more sense for me. But if I have to go back and then solidify my place in the top five, I’m happy to do that. I just want to fight and I want to fight before the end of the year, and either of those two names makes sense for me.”

It’s always fun to consider what would happen in potential UFC vs Bellator dream fights, but in the UFC alone right now, every single match-up in the top 15 of the lightweight division is so intriguing.

Whether or not Hooker will get the kind of fights he desires, though, remains to be seen.