Previously, on MMA Pros Pick, we discussed how Dan Hooker thrives when he enters the octagon with just one goal in mind, which is to ruin his opponent’s dream.
Now, Dan Hooker has weighed in on whether pre-fight animosity and beef are a must between fighters before they throw down.
This weekend, ‘The Hangman’ will look to return to the win column when he enters the octagon opposite Benoit Saint-Denis in the co-main event at UFC 325. On fight week, MMA Junkie’s Danny Segura asked the Kiwi if he prefers entering the octagon against an opponent with whom he has a strained relationship, and if not, is it hard to lock horns with someone whom Hooker genuinely likes.
The 35-year-old has a perfect theory. He believes fighters should never step into the octagon driven by emotion. As a seasoned MMA veteran, he understands how anger, overconfidence, or being emotional can become a distraction. ‘The Hangman’ said:
I’ve had 50 fights, and I’ve felt every single emotion you could possibly feel inside of that cage and it doesn’t help you a single shred. You get angry, you lose. You get happy, you get distracted, you lose. You have to stay calm, calculated, and just remove emotion from the whole situation altogether. If you get emotional, you lose.”
He added that being emotionless and entering the cage is the best for every fighter:
So you have to stay very composed and very emotionless when you’re out there. By the time you step in the cage, it doesn’t matter if you hate the guy or you think he’s the best bloke in the world, you’re so cold and calculated at that point.”
Check out Dan Hooker’s comments below (3:50):
Dan Hooker predicts Benoit Saint-Denis’ gameplan ahead of UFC 325
Dan Hooker believes that at UFC 325, once the octagon door shuts, Benoit Saint-Denis will look to take the fight to the mat and hunt for control time, and is likely aiming to secure a decision victory.
Hooker, meanwhile, expects to keep the fight standing and brawl like the ‘Madman’ who loves chaos. He said:
Smart money would say he’s going to try to take me down. Fights are generally dictated by who can press who against the cage or who can stay out in the open. I obviously want to stay out in the open and keep it on my feet, and he obviously 100% wants to press me against the cage and get some control time and look take the fight to where he has an advantage. He’s a smart man. I don’t take him as a stupid man. “
Hooker added that he doesn’t expect ‘God of War’ to stand and trade with him at all:
“I don’t think that he’s going to come all this way to stand in the pocket and swing punches with me. I don’t think that’s a very smart move to do. And I take him, I calculate him as a very smart man.”
