Dan Hooker's case , Eugene Bareman & City Kickboxing

[Brettco]

I'm kinda confused about the wars changing him though, he still has a crazy chin. I'd love to have someone clear this up for me because I'm legitimately confused about this, I always thought a lot of wars meant the loss of chin and durability... he doesn't seem diminished really, he just keeps going out there and throwing 40% punches with no set ups, no distance management, it's like he just started fighting really poorly, it seems like that happened after the wars, but I don't really understand why.

Came to say if he bulked up to lhw he couldn't have taken 1 more face punch. That hurt to watch.

 

[NattyBro]

Dan is just so hittable, he must move very predictably for talented strikers. it seems like guys just never miss when they flurry on him. like not a single punch is even slightly off.

definitely too slow for 145. would be interested to see him at 170 but no guarantees that he'd do well there either. He should fight Kevin Lee at 165 but that's not happening.

 

[Fergelmince]

He has a topcoach, who coaches 2 defending UFC champions

He has a great reach, FW or LW, I think the only guy who had a better reach at LW recently was James Vick and that because he was a fucking MW.

He has top sparring parters, technical fighters, like Adesanya, Volk, even Riddell, Kai, Ulberg.

He's (or was) a guy who can endure a lot of punishment (see the Barboza fight), athletic.

Can't Bareman teach him some "be smart, be pacient, don't go into his fists"?
Can't he teach his some distance control, having a better technique, actually learn something from Adesanya, Riddell and Volk?

Maybe, but will you watch him when he's in bellator or PFL in the next 18 months?

 

[Keeperofthegate]

I think he’s fought too many times consecutively, dealt with the visa issues, separated from a young kid and a wife and been in too many slug fests. Everyone’s saying he needs to take time off and I agree, BUT, I think he needs to reassess WHY and IF he needs to fight and then make a decision about his motivations.

when you’re doing these back to back, back up fights, they quickly become more about cash than anything else. I think that drive may have started to fade plus the crux of a career in fighting. Is it to feed his family now? Does he still have championship aspirations? Is he even fighting for the love of it?
Going from camp to camp, now dropping a weight class (to poor results) is just beating a dead horse.

 

[Masturbin]

He is not Volkanovski's head coach. He's a complimentary role of coaching in his striking. With the pandemic Volk hasn't been able to do much with him.

Volk also seems to be a freak like Gsp/Jones.
I think he could be an elite fighter no matter where he trains.(obviously his current gym helped him a ton)

 

[Kdup]

Bareman is obviously a decent coach. But I think he’s vastly overrated in the same way John Kavanagh was when Conor burst onto the scene.

Some coaches just get kissed on the dick because a tremendously talented and hard working athlete happened to walk through their doors one day. Who as you say, would’ve likely become great wherever he went.

When Conor came along, everyone hyped up SBG and thought it would become a production line for great fighters. Instead we got Artem. James Gallagher, a ruined Gunnar Nelson, and that Charlie Ward guy that got KO’d via head spike throw.

When Izzy came along, everyone hyped up CKB and thought it would become a production line for great fighters. Kara-France is decent. But unlikely to trouble the top of the division. Riddell and Volkanovski both do more training away from CKB than they do with them. And Dan Hooker is tough and has heart. But has been found out.

TLDR version - Hooker is to Adesanya, as Artem Lobov was to Conor.

Amazing. Hooker = goat. Quality mma math!

 

[Huligani]

Coaches aren't to blame. Hooker is just one of those guys who'll never be a title challenger.

 

[Hitdepruns]

Hooker could not even move... was sad to see him like this. You lose to Islam and move down?

 

[TKing]

As a fan of Dan Hooker, I knew instantly he would lose the second he moved and threw a punch. You could see everything he was throwing and every direction he was moving, he moved heavy.

He was in some crazy wars back to back and they can say this weight cut was successful but he still put his body through alot. Also his last couple of losses he looks different, like a guy that's ready to call it quits.

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

Surprised Bareman hasn’t blamed bad reffing or biased commentary like he did after the Barboza fight

 

[BangBang]

He could be colour commentator for the UFC maybe. The guy has oodles of personality and he's not a knob like Paddy the fucking baddy.

 

[SouthpawSouthernFist]

He's tough, but he isn't elite. No shame in it. It is what it is.

 

[blaseblah]

You can't train a fighter to be great if the talent isn't there. Remember Bubba from TUF and how everyone thought he would do well because he was Jones' training partner? Hooker is a good not great fighter.