Dan Hooker explains why he called out Beneil Dariush following his win at UFC 266: “I like the look of his little number next to his name”

UFC lightweight Dan Hooker has explained why he called out Beneil Dariush after his win at UFC 266 on Saturday.

Hooker managed to get back on the winning trail last weekend with a nice win over Nasrat Haqparast in Las Vegas. He had to rely on his wrestling to do it but after going through such a gruelling process just to get to fight night, it made sense that “Hangman” wanted to do everything in his power to ensure he walked away with the win.

In his post-fight interview he opted to call out the aforementioned Dariush and then in the press conference, he explained why.

“He’s the only one sitting there without a fight,” Hooker said. “If you look at the rankings, every single one of them is booked except Tony Ferguson and Beneil Dariush.

“They just fought, so it doesn’t make sense for that fight to happen again. So Beneil Dariush is sitting there without a dance partner and that gets me out of bed in the morning, a fight like that. I like the look of his little number next to his name, I’d like to take that off him.”

Quotes via MMA Junkie

Hooker’s recent setbacks came against Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler who, if they win their respective next bouts, could wind up battling it out for the UFC lightweight title at some stage in 2022.

The New Zealand star only tends to lose to the very elite and if he does wind up knocking off Dariush, he could end up just one more win away from a title shot.

Do you think Dan Hooker will meet Beneil Dariush in his next outing in the UFC? If so, will he secure the win and break into the top three? Let us know your thoughts in the comments, BJPENN Nation!