Dan Hooker is ready to return to action, and he’s so eager to get back in the cage that he’s willing to fight 155 pound boogeyman Arman Tsarukyan.
Tsarukyan is ranked No. 1 at lightweight but blew his chance at gold when he withdrew from a title fight against Islam Makhachev back in January due to a back issue. Since then, none of the top names in the division have expressed much willingness to fight him, and all of them have cited his last-minute withdrawal as the reason.
Enter “The Hangman,” who was forced to pull out of a fun scrap with Justin Gaethje in March due to a badly broken hand. Following multiple surgeries, Hooker is fight ready … and has determined the only fight that’s available to him right now is against “Ahalkalakets.”
Dan Hooker believes the top lightweights are making excuses to avoid fighting Arman Tsarukyan
“All those big-name guys have a good excuse not to fight him. That’s the fight I always wanted—not because he’s a prick and I hate him, but because I genuinely think he’s the… pic.twitter.com/rjL1LcNWhi
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) July 28, 2025
“Islam’s going up to welterweight, and Ilia will probably fight Gaethje,” Hooker told Submission Radio. “That leaves Holloway, and Holloway ain’t gonna fight Arman, no one wants to see that. Holloway will probably fight Oliveira. Gaethje will fight for the title, and then that leaves my man Arman. That’s the fight I want. That’s the fight that that makes sense.”
“The guy’s a walking bag of sand, but he is a very good fighter,” he said of Tsarukyan. “And now all those big name guys, they’ve got a good excuse to not fight him. Ilia said that he’s not gonna fight him. The UFC says that he needs one more. Between Arman and me [in the rankings], there’s Oliveira. They’ve already had their fight … So yeah. And I think they’re gonna do Holloway vs. Oliveira. They’re gonna do Gaethje for the title. That leaves Arman in the lurch.”
“He’s stuck fighting me, brother. He’s gotta fight me to get back in the mix and get a title shot. And that’s the fight I want, and not because he’s a pr—k and I hate him, but because I genuinely think that he’s the harder fight.”
Hooker currently sits at No. 6 in the lightweight rankings, high enough up for a fight with Tsarukyan to make sense. As usual, “The Hangman” makes a compelling argument. Whether UFC matchmakers see things his way or not is another matter. They might think ol’ reckless Dan is the perfect opponent to get Paddy Pimblett into the top five.
“I don’t wanna, no,” Hooker said of fighting Pimblett. “I don’t think the guy’s that good, and it brings out the best of me when I fight an actual good fighter. Like, when they give me someone that I think I can beat, or I think someone’s s—t, then I fight s—t. Like, my mind subconsciously relaxes because I think they’re s—t, and then I do s—t, then they beat me.”
“But when I fight a guy that I think could kick my ass, then my subconscious goes, ‘Oh, s—t. We might get our ass kicked. Then I wake up, so I actually end up fighting really well. So I’d rather just fight the best guy so I actually perform well.”
That’s some of the craziest reasoning we’ve ever heard for passing up on an easier fight, but that’s Dan Hooker for you. What do you say, Maniacs? Would you rather see Hooker vs. Tsarukyan, or Hooker vs. Pimblett?
