New Zealand lightweight Dan Hooker delivered a harsh assessment of Paddy Pimblett’s fighting future after the Liverpool star’s unanimous decision loss to Justin Gaethje at UFC 324, comparing the Englishman’s movement to a baby giraffe and predicting a shortened career ahead.
Pimblett absorbed tremendous punishment from Gaethje in Las Vegas on January 24, dropping his UFC record to 23-4 after being knocked down multiple times across five grueling rounds in his failed bid for the interim lightweight championship. The judges scored the bout 48-47, 49-46, and 49-46 in favor of Gaethje, who claimed the interim title for the second time in his career.
Dan Hooker Questions Paddy Pimblett’s Longevity Following Brutal UFC 324 Title Loss
Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show following the fight, Hooker did not hold back in his criticism of Pimblett’s technical approach and future prospects at the elite level.
“He looks like a baby giraffe – elbows flying in the air, jumping in the air, he looks to me when he fights,” Hooker said. “He’s getting some love for the toughness, for not succumbing, not getting knocked out, for taking the shots. Cool. That’s not the hard part.”
The City Kickboxing fighter argued that Pimblett’s real challenges lie ahead now that he has been thrust into the upper echelon of the lightweight division. “The hard part is not fighting Justin Gaethje – getting to Justin Gaethje and having a fight with Justin Gaethje, having a fight with Dan Hooker, having a fight with Dustin Poirier. Getting there is the hard part,” Hooker explained.
Hooker suggested that Pimblett has benefited from favorable matchmaking throughout his UFC tenure. “He’s on one of these special UFC contracts where you pick your opponents and like that. He’s been managed very well and he’s been shortcut over a lot of other fighters very well, but now he’s in the deep end,” he said.
The criticism carries weight given Pimblett’s path to the title shot. Before facing Gaethje, Pimblett’s most recent UFC victories came against Michael Chandler, Bobby Green, and Tony Ferguson, all fighters in their late thirties or on significant losing streaks at the time of their bouts. Ferguson was on a six-fight skid when Pimblett defeated him by decision at UFC 296 in December 2023.
Hooker’s most damning prediction focused on Pimblett’s technical deficiencies and their long-term implications. “The hard part is now there’s no more easy fights. For the rest of his career there’s no fights where you’re just going to go out there and skate by and outclass the guy. The kid’s never had a war in his life,” Hooker stated.
“He’s going to sit in his bed for the next month recovering, then he’s going to have to get himself back up and go out there and do the exact same thing next time. Over time, he’s so long in the tooth now in his game that those technical holes in his style defensively, he can’t fix. They’re so ingrained in him now that they can’t fix them,” he continued.
Hooker expressed doubt about Pimblett’s ability to withstand the accumulated damage required to compete at championship level. “When his body does get a little bit of wear and tear, I don’t think the kid’s going to be around for that long,” he concluded.
The comments come as Pimblett earned widespread praise for his toughness in absorbing heavy strikes from Gaethje, including three knockdowns throughout the fight. Both fighters received $100,000 Fight of the Night bonuses, marking the first awards under the UFC’s new Paramount+ broadcasting deal.
Hooker himself returns to action in the co-main event of UFC 325 on February 1 in Sydney, Australia, where he faces French contender Benoit Saint-Denis in what promoters are billing as another potential Fight of the Night candidate. The bout takes place on home soil for Hooker’s City Kickboxing camp and headlines a card topped by Alexander Volkanovski’s featherweight title defense against Diego Lopes.
The 34-year-old Hooker is coming off a second-round submission loss to Arman Tsarukyan at UFC Fight Night 265 in November 2025. Despite the setback, he remains ranked sixth in the lightweight division and continues to accept challenging matchups against rising contenders.
