“You look at every champion and that’s what they do. You can’t point to a champion that fights anyone, under any circumstances like a “Cowboy” Cerrone. It’s a mentality, but it’s who you are as a person; you can’t go out there and change it.
“There are fighters out there that take the right fights at the right time — they don’t fight when they’re injured and fight guys that stylistically, their team and managers and coaches think they can beat, and they hid behind their managers or their coaches, but that’s something that I don’t do.
“I hear them trying and I know it’s the right thing to do, but I don’t listen to it.”
And this is one of the big reasons why Hooker has become such a beloved figure.
The Rising Stars Of UFC 325
“I just wanna do things that make me excited,” he added. “This card makes me excited because Volk’s headlining, it’s in Sydney and we’ve got a lot of teammates on the card — it’s an actual exciting event to be a part of.
“Down the line, the next thing that would get me excited is I know ‘The Stylebender’ is coming back,” Hooker said in reference to former 2x middleweight champion Israel Adesanya’s return in the main event slot of UFC Seattle in March.
“I would love to be on that card too. To be in camp with him, I feel we really push each other well. Being in the gym, being active, the energy in the gym with both of us getting ready is always pretty crazy, so I know that would get me excited as well.
“It’s just chasing down things that excite me,” reiterated Hooker. “If I physically can fight, I will fight.”
What more would you expect from a guy that hushed his coaches in the corner ahead of a pivotal third round to tell them “Boys! Boys! Boys! I love this s***!”
We know you do, Dan, and we love you for it.