Dan Hooker has a lot to gain in his first fight of 2024 when he takes on Mateusz Gamrot this weekend at UFC 305.
"The Hangman" has produced back-to-back wins in the lightweight division over Jalin Turner and Claudio Puelles to earn himself the #11 ranking.
Gamrot, on the other hand, sits at #5 having beaten the likes of Rafael dos Anjos and Arman Tsarukyan during his time in the UFC.
Had the division's champion, Islam Makhachev, been able to make a quicker turnaround to face Tsarukyan, who solidified his status as the number one contender by beating Charles Oliveira at UFC 300, there's a world in which Gamrot wouldn't need to take this fight.
The issue some have put forth, however, is that the Polish fighter potentially lacks that extra factor which would build excitement for him earning a title shot...
Dan Hooker Says Mateusz Gamrot Has To Fight Him To Make Himself More Viable For A Title Shot
Hooker believes that his opponent this weekend in Perth didn't take this fight because he wanted to go to Australia to test himself against "The Hangman."
Other contenders may have chosen to wait knowing that once Makhachev does return from injury to fight Tsarukyan, he's likely to be the next up when you look at the rest of the top five.
Not only was there a need for Gamrot to stay active by fighting down in the rankings, Hooker believes that "Gamer" is in need of more highlights if he's going to fight for the title.
He has some impressive wins on his record, but as the Kiwi fighter pointed out during a recent interview on the FREESTYLEBENDER YouTube channel, Gamrot's recent wins haven't been dominant displays.
Yeah I feel like they made him do it. I feel like he's not doing it by choice. I feel like if it was a choice, he would sit out like he's the next contender in line for a title shot. So obviously, Arman is potentially booked for Islam, I hear Islam's injured and that's like up in the air at the moment, but Gamrot's the next guy. In the top five, a lot of the big names are coming off losses if you look down the (rankings), like (Dustin) Poirier, (Justin) Gaethje, Oliveira, are all coming off losses.
Gamrot, like a close edging win after like pretty much his last two fights, he got dropped by 'RDA' and he got dropped by Jalin Turner and then managed to grab ahold of them and survive and panic and win, you know what I mean? So to say that this guy is the next in line for a title is very hard to market I guess for the UFC. So for in terms of Gamrot, he needs like, a big win over a guy with an exciting fighter with a big name, and so that's me. But I'm in the game of opportunities.
