Hooker pushing for showdown with Ferguson at UFC 281

“The Hangman” has laid down the gauntlet to a former interim lightweight champion.

Dan Hooker (Ngāti Maniapoto) wants his next opponent to be Tony Ferguson, a campaign that he has been running across social media, which has drawn fans in but has yet to receive a response from Ferguson himself.

Despite hassling the UFC for a fight at any place, any time, he’s called Ferguson out for UFC 281, which has his fellow fighter “The Last Stylebender” defending the middleweight gold against a man who has a decision and knockout victory in kickboxing years past; Alex Pereira.

Speaking with Submission Radio, Hooker says he's itching to get into a fight camp with an opponent that "makes sense".

“How do you pick a fight? You tell someone you’re going to smash their face in. If they agree, they agree. ‘Smash your face in’ – premium quality fighting words. [Those words] can’t be ignored. Your honour is at stake. They ignore that, now your honour is at stake, my friend.”

Ferguson has been on a downward spiral, suffering four losses in his last five fights. The most recent was by way of knockout to Michael Chandler in May, who also knocked out Hooker in his UFC debut in January last year. Hooker mirrors the same loss record as Ferguson, his only win of his last five bouts a decision victory over Nasrat Haqparast in September, 2021.

“This is not the sport of fairytales. I’ve seen that that’s one of the things the fans hate, they don’t want either of us to lose and whoever loses this fight is in an even worse spot.

“Tony’s a big fight. A win for either one of us puts us right back in the mix, that’s where you want to be.”

Should the potential “wild mess” be confirmed for UFC 281, it’ll be at Madison Square Garden in New York City.