Dan is probably on the more knowledgeable side, surprisingly.
Even as Hooker aired his grievances with the promotion he’s called home since 2014, he also praised the UFC for its business acumen. Right now, it has a popular champion at the top lightweight division in Topuria, and a number of potential challengers lining up for his first defense of that title.
Hooker explained how this scenario is by design.
“The UFC is smart as f*ck,” Hooker said. “They never paint themselves into a situation where there’s a clear No. 1 contender that has to fight for the belt next, because if they’re ever in that situation, then negotiations obviously become very difficult for them. If the fans are 100 percent locked and expecting there’s only one guy that makes sense for the title, you think when they sit down and negotiate, the UFC’s in a strong position?
“Now they’ve got [Justin] Gaethje that they can have, they’ve got Arman that still they’ve said doesn’t but he does still make sense for the title.
Paddy Pimblett could step up because he’s got f*cking beef coming out of his ears. So they always have in a title fight situation three guys that could justify title shots because then if they have one guy, they go to the first guy, he starts playing hard ball, then they can go to the second guy, they can go to the third guy, then they can go back to the first guy. At the end of the day it’s business and the fight that makes the most dollars makes the most sense for the UFC.”