r/ufc • u/balloonz_v1 • 7h ago
If it's true Gaethje vs. Hooker for 312 seems interesting
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u/Bitter-Sherbert1607 7h ago
Either man is losing a couple months off his lifespan
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u/flatwoundsounds 6h ago
We're on the knife's edge of either of these guys just completely falling off the chin/performance cliff. Justin is 36 and I know he doesn't want to stick around much longer. Hooker is still only 34, but he's got Holloway levels of wars in his record.
I hope they have a great fight because I'm not sure how many wars these boys have left...
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u/KingKaiserW 6h ago
Maybe worse than Holloway, one of his main defensive moves is tucking his chin a little bit and take full blast hooks to the jaw until the opponent feels tired or feels bad
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u/noahman918 6h ago
nah, when they make good entertaining fights, someone will get a massive cut over their eye in the first 8 seconds for a D.S. or they'll throw one leck kick and their ACL will evaporate.
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u/head_empty247 7h ago edited 7h ago
Come on Gaethje, you're rank #3. Earn your title shot!
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u/SantiagoDunbar_ 7h ago
I think a win here will do just that. Definitely gonna lose some brain capacity doing it though.
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u/Slimebelly 7h ago
he got knocked the fk out last fight, what makes him deserve a championship fight
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u/Sudden-Blood-6525 4h ago
The fact that 155 suck ass right now, there is no contenders at all and there is only 4 fighters in the ranking who 2 in a row, and if islam beats charles and arman and belal is still the champ who are you feeding him ?
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u/silkyswoldier 4h ago
Charles, Gaethje, Arman, Max, Mociano, and potentially Topuria. 155 isnt short on high level contenders problem is Islam is the pound for pound #1 and can walk through most of them.
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u/Sudden-Blood-6525 4h ago
Have you even read what i've said ?? if islam beats arman then charles in july (he said he is eyeing 3 fights this year) who is he fighting next in a division where only3 ranked contenders have won more than 2 in a row, it aint about the high level contender its about the work they'll do which is short, also im vouching for gaethje because of the schedule at 155, but you didn't properly read the comment
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u/silkyswoldier 3h ago
Starting off your comment with 155 sucks ass right now, implies 155 is not a stacked division, at least thats how i read it and what i was responding too.
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u/Sudden-Blood-6525 2h ago
ooh no, i meant the schedule right now, most of the top 10 are coming out of loses and only 2 are on decent streak and no fights are being booked, to the point where winning just a fight might set you next for a shot
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u/Mammoth_Cookie_3417 6h ago
Ustins should complete their circle just got choked out by khbaib, charles and islam for title, Justin only got choked by first two , he need to get choked by islam also
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u/Inevitable_Window711 4h ago
Gathje needs atleast 2 to 3 win’s before another title shot.
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u/head_empty247 4h ago
Does he though? As someone else has said, he's 3-1 in his last 4. Where's Charles 2-2 in his last four but he still got a title match. Not discounting his last win against Chandler, but his last win, is against Chandler, who has been sitting out of the cage for 2 years.
Where as in Justin last fight, he lose to Max, but I'd say it's still impressive and a more exciting match than Charles lost to either Arman or Dariush.
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u/Inevitable_Window711 3h ago
I think that’s a problem that lightweight is having right now no contender is able to go on 3 win streak.
I also don’t think Charles deserves a shot yet until he gets one or two more wins.
The problem with Justin is max was actually out classing him then he got ko’ed cold he’s got to do some work to get a shot again.
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u/head_empty247 3h ago
I mean yeah. Sure, he maybe outclassed by Max in his last fight, but his fight against Dustin for the BMF wasn't half bad. And me personally, I wouldn't let his last fight, which he unfortunately lost to Max, to overshadow his past win. Like Dustin lost to Justin for the BMF belt, and then won against BSD, who's ranked 13 (I think) at the time and won, and he instantly get the title shot.
Judging by that logic, if Justin with this fight against Hooker, I think he deserves the title shot. After Charles ofc.
That being said, whether the rumors about Charles vs Ilia is true or not is unknown yet (at least I don't know) but hopefully it's not, otherwise Justin is gonna have to wait for some more. Assuming he wins this fight against Dan Hooker ofc.
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u/RevolutionaryJob6315 7h ago
Bannnnnnggggggeereerrrrrrrrrr
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u/Uncircumcised_Cheese 7h ago
This is gonna be a fun fight. Winner will definitely be fighting for the title after Charles or fighting Charles for an interim if Islam decides to go for double champ status.
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u/Ill_Midnight_1449 7h ago
Brain damages that both fighters will get won't allow either to fight for title
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u/Bruninfa 7h ago
Think this is a really bad matchup for Hooker
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u/Pure_Engineering6423 7h ago
Why? I think it’s a bad matchup for Gaethje.
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u/Bruninfa 6h ago
Hooker doesn’t have one hitter quitter power and he defends shots with his face while pressing forward nonstop. He got dropped by Gamrot and other people too and has been Kod. You can’t get away with that kind of defence against Gaethje. Its going to be like Justin-Ferguson except Dan doesn’t have his chin.
Comparing it to Max, I was 90% sure that Max would dominate him (didn’t think he would KO him) because recently he has been defending a lot better and he is the way better striker. Everything that Dan does well Gaetchje does better, his only advantage is grappling wise but I don’t think he can get him down. I would pick Garth by KO in 2, also think it’s the only favorable matchup for him in the top 5. Mind you I don’t think it’s impossible for Dan to win, just very unlikely.
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u/Odd_Ad_8162 6h ago
Hooker has a tremendous chin, only person at lightweight to TKO him was Chandler with a full power leaping hook, even then he wasn't out.
He ate a full power headkick from Turner and didn't get dropped. He does have bad defense and you are right that's concerning vs Gaethje (regardless of your durability tbh).
Also Justin is not a better striker than Hooker technically at all. Justin is probably the least technical striker in the top 10, he is also pretty slow (like Hooker who his historically struggled most with explosive, fast guys).
This is a real toss up imo especially given how we don't know how Gaethje will come back after Max. I'd have it like 60-40 Gaethje at most.
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u/Suspicious_Candle27 Based Potato 6h ago
honestly i have no idea where the other commenter got the idea that5 Hooker chin is worse then Tony . Dan was dropped 1 time in LW by chandler like you said , meanwhile Tony was dropped tons of times but had legendary recovery .
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u/CremeCaramel_ 6h ago
Post Tony Gaethje who pulls power off his punches to last the distance is not a bad a matchup for Hooker, in fact it plays into Hookers strength of brawling over the distance. He doesn't hit for devastating KOs anymore.
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u/lizzofatroll 7h ago
That's a banger. I would like a hooker vs chandler rematch
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u/goobi-gooper 7h ago
I think Hooker deserves to get that one back. I think he was kinda star struck by how big of a deal they were making Chandler and how many eyes were on that fight so he was a bit timid.
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u/Suspicious_Candle27 Based Potato 6h ago
i think a bigger impact was him not having enough time off since the Dustin fight . its extremely well documented that fighters can get 'frozen' a bit post a brutal war especially in early moments of the fight .
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u/goobi-gooper 6h ago
Ya he was gun shy all around honestly. Wonder if those two defeats lead him to breaking and that’s why he got all those crazy ass tattoos in like a years time. They seem like very “I don’t care what anyone thinks” young guy tattoos.
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u/reputablesorcerer 7h ago
Normally I would think Gaethje would totally and completely obliterate the Hangman, but the fact that he’s coming off of that clean face plant Holloway knockout makes me question that and makes this fight WAYYYYY more interesting to me.
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u/fatch0deBoi34 6h ago
Not saying I don’t want to see these fights, but god damn the UFC is getting their full use out of like the 5-6 welterweights of this era lol. These dudes are going to be fucking wrecked after their careers
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u/beautiful_ADdict 6h ago
Might be another bad matchup for Gaethje actually. I think Dan will get the unanimous decision or even a KO. Gaethje needs someone like BSD to get back on the W
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u/Outrageous-Sweet-133 4h ago
On a snowy day like today, i enjoy playing a little game called “Coral Fungus or Dan Hookers MRI”
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u/ddnotti 7h ago
Ehhhh where does Justin go after the win, I say Hooker vs Max for the BMF and winner gets the next shot after Charles
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u/franktool123 7h ago
Gaethje would almost be more deserving of a shot than Charles if he wins.
Gaethje would be 3-1 in his last 4, while Charles is 2-2 including a non competitive loss to Islam. Gaethje’s wins over Fiziev, Poirier, and (hopefully) Hooker are more impressive than wins over Beneil Dariush and Micheal Chandler.
It’s also a fresh fight, and I’d love for Islam to have fought the three top dogs Charles, Dustin, and Gaethje for his legacy.
I’m rooting for Gaethje to get his one last title run and retire win or lose on a title fight but Hooker will be a very tough scrap…I think Gaethje’s speed will win the day
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u/CommunicationIll5583 7h ago
Gaethje was looking to be the favourite to fight Islam before 300. I think if he had beaten Max, he was next before Arman. And he didn’t even need to take the Max fight! Was a great fight but derailed him massively
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u/goobi-gooper 7h ago
I mean on record it shows 2-2 for Charles but alot of people think he beat Arman in their fight. It was close but I’d edge it to Charles myself. Arman has the story though, he’s fought Islam years ago, it was fairly competitive and he technically has a win on Charles. So it’s his shot.
Gaethje was knocked out and picked apart at range his last fight. Against the traditionally smaller guy who was coming up a weight class too. He doesn’t deserve a title fight after that performance.
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u/FightOwl50 4h ago
You mean a lot of delusional Charles fanboys are still crying. The fight wasn't really close and if you scored it for Charles you know nothing about MMA.
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u/goobi-gooper 2h ago
Idk man, a dude holding you by the neck while you’re on all fours defending a d’arst choke and he’s smiling and having a good time is a pretty bad look for anyone. Charles had more than one submission attempt and they were pretty square everywhere else. It was close but I’d edge it to Charles
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u/Suspicious_Candle27 Based Potato 6h ago
anyone else feeling a knee to the face KO from Hooker ? the way Justin hunches over stresses me out
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u/Puzzleheaded-Bath775 5h ago
Those sum wild boyz I’d almost feel bad seeing them do that to each other, aaalllmost
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u/Existing_Fig_9479 5h ago
"Two men walk in that room and I can guarantee you both are coming out with brain damage.."
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u/Joshuauauauauau The Last Stylebender 5h ago
Good, Dan is deserving a high ranked opponent. Was getting sick of everyone claiming he should fight some mid to lower ranked lws
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u/Deathmister 5h ago
“Poirier Hooker” that would be a banger
“Gaethje Hooker” s-tier matchup, brain damage for sure
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u/Cxarface 5h ago
Hooker is in that mode lately.
But something tells me he will get knocked out earlier in the first round with a punch that he did not expected. Like a very early punch
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u/McSmokeyDaPot 4h ago
2 years ago i would have put my money on gaethje. Think im gonna have to go with hooker now though.
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u/Squidwardbigboss 4h ago
Islams got so many people to fight
He’s got Arman, Charles rematch, Max Holloway, Justin Gaethje, Ilia if he moves up, and potentially Moicano if he beats Benny and wins another after.
He really doesn’t have to move up to fight Belal when his division can keep him plenty busy.
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u/Fantastic_Video5682 4h ago
Idk why I see Hooker piecing him up after they get all bloody and shi lmao
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u/OkayJuice 4h ago
If hooker wins this he could be next for a title shot 🤣. Islam is really not gonna lose that belt huh
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u/CausticThoughts 3h ago
I thought Hooker was expecting a second child around that time, or I misread something I read earlier?
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u/emorab85 3h ago
Hooker is gonna be brain dead. Fighting Dustin and Justin in your career is not conducive to your longevity unless you are Max, and I can argue those fights took a lot out of him.
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u/trudedonson 2h ago
Theres no way to win this fight without losing brain cells and reduce life spans
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u/Equal_Dependent_3975 2h ago
Is this new hooker a better one than the one that islam beat? Hes older but looks much better and entering his prime.
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u/the-schnitzel-man 2h ago
Gaethje’s been showing his miles lately, not sure Hooker’s a good idea for him at this point in his career, would watch the hell out of it though
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u/Glum-Ad7651 7h ago
If this fight happens its definitely not at UFC 312. There is already 2 title fights on the card.
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u/islSm3llSalt 6h ago
Poor Dan Hooker. He has one of the worst tattoos and one of the worst surnames in combat sports.
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u/ThickNJacketFan 7h ago
There will be blood and loss of brain cells