Gaethje has been publicly lobbying for another championship opportunity, and the simmering tensions between Topuria and “Paddy the Baddy” make that a fight many want to see, but Hooker can add his name into the mix should he push his winning streak to four and earn a decisive win over Tsarukyan on Saturday.
“The door is open; the door is wide open,” Hooker said in his signature playful tone. “It’s exciting. The boss said this is a No. 1 contender fight and that’s why I chased down Arman, because I know that you get passed him, you get him out of the way, you’re looking down the barrel of a title shot.”
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What makes things even more interesting for the heavily inked purveyor of One-Minute Scraps is that this weekend’s pairing is both a colossal challenge and a bout where few expect him to succeed, two things that genuinely get the all-action fighter all revved up.
“If you’re gonna fight anyone, you might as well fight the best guy you can possibly get your hands on,” Hooker said in a way that suggested he doesn’t understand why anyone would do anything else. “I feel like I rise to the occasion when I fight someone that is super-talented; that puts the pressure on me and brings out the best in my skill and abilities, and that’s why I look for the harder fights I can get my hands on.
“I like the fights where everyone kind of counts you out; that’s the most exciting to me,” he added. “I feel like all the pressure is on him as well —people were expecting big things, so that’s where the fight is, and it’s a beautiful mental game because everything I do has to chip away at what should be going on; that’s why it’s a beautiful fight. I start landing punches, I start stuffing takedowns, then that opinion just starts to fall apart.”
