LW Dan Hooker in a PRIDE rules HW fight...

[INTERL0PER]

Years ago, on the regional scene in New Zealand, UFC lightweight Dan Hooker (fighting Mark Diakese at 219) fought a heavyweight fight, with "Kiwi" PRIDE rules (basically PRIDE rules with elbows). I've shared this before, but thought it'd be worth sharing again with Dan's fight coming up and as most people here won't have seen it.

It's a pretty entertaining brawl and goes to show what a "true" fighter Hooker is, willing to take on all manner of challenges. On the regional scene there are plenty of fighters forced to take fights outside their weight class, but rarely with a weight discrepancy this large. Dan weighed in at 86kg (189lbs), whereas his opponent, Marc Creedy, weighed in at 128kg (282lbs)... so essentially a 100lb difference.

(timestamped, but if it doesn't work, fight starts at 2:04)


As a bonus, here's Dan and his former coach fighting in a tag team kickboxing fundraiser match against one of NZ's best Heavyweight kickboxers, Antz Nansen, and his coach. Dan gets tagged in to the fight around 1:10, but honestly the whole fight is pretty entertaining to watch.



Enjoy.

 

[SeaLevelMizugaki]

 

[Slick_36]

UFC needs to hire these commentators, best accent in the game.

 

[INTERL0PER]

UFC needs to hire these commentators, best accent in the game.

Yeah, Kiwi accents don't get a hell of a lot thicker than those two.

 

[Typrune Goatley]

I always heard about Hooker fighting at HW but never actually seen it until now.

Thanks for posting, Sherbro.

 

[Erocthadon]

Can't be Pride rules with elbows

 

[Jedi Judah]

Hooker needs to move to WW

 

[FrankWank]

I’ll always remember him as a FW
Crazy...

 

[xx madskillz xx]

I thought the tag team kickboxing fundraiser match was going to be kinda like sparring but damn it was not and they were going at it hard.

 

[INTERL0PER]

I thought the tag team kickboxing fundraiser match was going to be kinda like sparring but damn it was not and they were going at it hard.

Yup. I was there that night and it seemed even crazier in person. The HW kickboxer talked after the fight about how he'd been invited down for an "exhibition hard sparring session", but found himself in a proper fight with Hooker.

That gym runs in-house fight nights at the end of every year, and they're always absolutely nuts. Tag team fights, 4-man one night tournaments, kickboxing fights that become MMA fights mid-fight, fighters drinking beers and bourbons between rounds. It's incredibly unsanctioned and unsafe, and just about the best time you can have watching combat sports live.

 

[INTERL0PER]

Bump.