Islam Makhachev responds to Dan Hooker’s offer to make their fight at UFC 267 five rounds

UFC lightweight contender Islam Makhachev responded to rival Dan Hooker’s offer to make their fight at UFC 267 for five rounds instead.

As you are all now aware, Hooker stepped up on short notice to take the fight with Makhachev at UFC 267 in Abu Dhabi after Rafael dos Anjos was forced to withdraw with an injury. Hooker is a huge underdog to get the upset here against Makhachev, but that isn’t stopping him from wanting to be in the cage with his rival potentially 10 minutes longer. Hooker has taken to social media in the past week to request that his fight with Makhachev be moved to five rounds instead of three. Now, Makhachev has responded.

Taking to his social media to reply to Hooker’s request for a five-round, non-title fight at UFC 267, Makhachev told “The Hangman” that five rounds would be worse for him.

It’s worse for you https://t.co/P02zEv67iw

— Makhachev Islam (@MAKHACHEVMMA) October 23, 2021

It’s worse for you

For Makhachev, he has never gone the full five-round distance in his MMA career, so it might be beneficial to him to go the full 25 minutes at some point in his career, especially before he fights for a title. In his last fight, Makhachev defeated Thiago Moises in the fourth round and he still looked strong late in that fight, but Moises is not a legitimate title contender. Hooker, meanwhile, is a legitimate contender and someone who has always put up a tough fight against anyone in the division. Hooker is also one of those fighters who tend to get better the longer the fight goes on, so you can see why he would want the extra 10 minutes added. With this fight taking place next weekend in Abu Dhabi, the UFC will have to figure out if it wants to make it five rounds very soon.

Do you hope the UFC books this Islam Makhachev vs. Dan Hooker fight at UFC 267 for five rounds instead?