UFC 243: Dan Hooker Says Dustin Poirier’s “Chasing Leprechauns”, Repeats Callout

After cruising to a win over Al Iaquinta at UFC 243, Dan Hooker called out Dustin Poirier in a pretty memorable fashion. So what was Hooker’s reaction when he was informed Poirier’s been campaigning for a rematch with Conor McGregor? It was an interesting one to say the least.

Hooker’s latest win

Hooker to on Iaquinta in the co-main event of Saturday’s card, and once again the New Zealand fighter’s top-tier striking was on full display. Iaquinta, as per usual with “Ragin’ Al”, continued to press forward throughout much of the fight, even though he absorbed a steady stream of punches and calf kicks. Iaquinta threatened with some big shots of his own at times, but Hooker outstruck the rugged vet by a 104 to 38 margin. Hooker also squashed all thre three of Iaquinta’s takedown attempts and won the fight via unanimous decision.

Hooker calls out Poirier

Well, after the win, Hooker proceeded to call out fellow lightweight contender Poirier. At the post-fight presser, Hooker had this to say upon learning Poirier’s been driving for a rematch with McGregor (quotes via MMA Junkie):

“He’s going to fight who?” Hooker said. “If he wants to sit around chasing leprechauns, that’s his own problem. If he wants a real fight and he’ll take it, he knows where to find me.”

“…This is the No. 6-ranked guy in the world who went from a title fight two fights ago,” Hooker said. “That’s why Dustin is on my hit list. I wanted to follow Khabib’s last two fights. I want to fight Al Iaquinta and then I want to fight Dustin and take him out.”

It’s a pretty good point really. After all, it’s been a year now since McGregor lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov, and we still don’t know when he’s going to fight again. Further, does McGregor want to run it back with someone who he’s already defeated? And who is also coming off a loss to Khabib? It seems kind of unlikely, considering McGregor’s expressed an interest in facing other fighters like Frankie Edgar and Donald Cerrone, in addition to Khabib.

All that aside, considering Hooker is currently ranked #15 in the lightweight division, chances are he’ll be a top ten ranked lightweight sometime this week. He’ll almost certainly face another top-ranked lightweight next.