Immediately after his big win last Saturday, Feb. 22 (Sunday, Feb. 23 Australian time), Hooker got on the mic in his post-fight interview and called for “The Highlight” Justin Gaethje to be his next fight in the octagon.
The Monday following the fight, Hooker joined Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show to discuss his victory and what’s next for him.
During the interview, Hooker touched on also being interested in fighting Dustin Poirier next if Gaethje doesn’t accept or if he’s already began other negotiations.
Since Hooker’s interview on the Helwani show, it’s been reported per ESPN and Ariel Helwani that Gaethje and Conor Mcgregor have began preliminary talks about scheduling an upcoming fight.
On Thursday, Poirier responded to Hookers twitter post, stating that he’s got 25 minutes for him. Soon after, Hooker accepted, telling Poirier to let him know when and where.
Poirier lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov in the lightweight championship last September and he isn’t necessarily in the position to call for another title shot before getting a couple more wins under his belt.
Similar to Poirier, Hooker’s also not in the position to call for a title shot quite yet. He’s coming off of his first five round fight where he defeated a fifth ranked lightweight in Paul Felder. Poirier is the best possible fight for Hooker and a victory over him could potentially get him one fight away from earning a title shot.
This is a great fight for both fighters and for the division. With both of them agreeing to fight, all that needs to happen now is for the UFC matchmaker’s to get on board.
