Dan Hooker still confident he can become UFC champion despite losing skid: “Nothing else interests me except having the belt”

Dan Hooker still believes he can become the UFC’s lightweight champion.

Hooker is set to return to lightweight at UFC 281 when he takes on Claudio Puelles. He’s looking to snap a two-fight losing skid and is coming off a TKO loss to Arnold Allen at featherweight. Although Hooker is 1-4 in his last five, ‘The Hangman’ is still confident in his skills and that he can make a title run. Part of the reason for that confidence is due to him having a full camp at City Kickboxing.

“I’m very confident in my camp, I’m very confident in my team and my preparation. Brick by brick just means building a strong foundation, because, without a strong foundation it will all collapse,” Hooker said to Submission Radio. “I feel like that is the position I was in the past where I had a very high tower. My tower was almost at the top. Like I got into positions where I would’ve been one fight away from the Conor McGregor (fight) or one fight away from fighting for the title. But I feel like it wasn’t a strong foundation. I feel like I had just a stack of five tiers on top of each other, in hindsight looking back.

“Coming around the bend, it’s about putting those foundations in place. So, when I get back in position, which obviously is a world title,” Hooker continued. “You will not see me compete in the UFC if the objective is not a world title. I’m not interested in anything else. I’m not interested in the money, I’m not interested. Nothing else interests me except having the belt, because the belt means you’re the best fighter in the world. When I lose sight of that, yeah, I really find no interest in fighting without the opportunity to become the best in the world.”

If Dan Hooker can get past Claudio Puelles at UFC 281, he will likely get a top-10 opponent next. Even though he has lost four of his last five, Hooker can still string together a few wins in a row and get back into the title picture.

Do you think Dan Hooker can become the UFC champion?