Having been away from the action for over three years, it appears that Conor McGregor’s long-awaited comeback is starting to hone into view. The Irish fighter had hoped to take on Michael Chandler this year, but injury put paid to those plans and now he is said to be close to completing the deal to make Dan Hooker his next opponent.
The 34-year-old New Zealander is McGregor’s choice for his return, and UFC president Dana White is apparently firmly on board with such a clash. With his UFC 303 fight with Chandler failing to come to fruition, upsetting many fans, White is understandably keen to make sure a possible fight is good to go before things go further into the planning mode.
Whenever McGregor comes back to UFC, there is an understandable spike in interest, and that’s because the Dubliner is a big box office draw. Indeed, the online MMA betting market also experiences a massive boost, not least because Conor McGregor’s fanbase is immense.
Since losing back-to-back fights to Dustin Poirier, McGregor has been fighting to get back to doing what he does best, namely overcoming opponents in the Octagon. Injury issues have curtailed those plans, and he has been kept busy with all manner of other projects, including getting bitten by the acting bug when appearing in Road House alongside Jake Gyllenhaal.
Hooker, otherwise known as The Hangman, made his MMA debut in 2009 and is a very experienced fighter. At UFC 305 in Perth, Australia, he beat Mateusz Gamrot by a split decision in August, leaving him with a 24-12 overall record.
He should provide McGregor with a stern test, albeit one you would have to expect the superstar to win, and it could be the ideal way for him to get back into the swing of things ahead of a potentially bigger contest.
On the possibility of McGregor coming back with a flight against Hooker, Dana White commented,
“Yeah, obviously, you know, that would be a great fight,”
“I like that fight — I did not announce the fight,” White commented.
Having won his last three fights, including a win in Las Vegas against Jalin Turner at UFC 290, Hooker will want to make the most of his upward trajectory, and even a defeat against McGregor would significantly raise his profile, and no doubt earn him a big purse.
The fight with Hooker is apparently penciled in for February 1st in Saudi Arabia, with Hooker very much excited by the prospect,
“Lock it in. I jumped in the ring. We had a few words inside the ring, but yeah, February 1 works for me in Saudi. We’ll get that thing squared away.”
“We’re kindred spirits, as you could say. I think we’re both very similar, there’s a lot of similarities there. I’m on board, he’s on board; we just need to get the UFC on board and we’ll get this thing across the line.” Hooker added.
In June, Saudi Arabia hosted their first UFC event, and the chance to be the location for McGregor’s return is one that they won’t want to miss out on.