Written by Dan Hooker | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Dan Hooker is demanding a fight with Arman Tsarukyan—if only because no one else seems to want it.
“The Hangman” is currently on the mend after undergoing hand surgery this past March, but when he returns, he’s hoping to face top lightweight contender Tsarukyan in a bout that could produce a title challenger for current champion Ilia Topuria.
In an interview with Submission Radio, Hooker laid out how he expects the division to shake out in the near future and where a potential fight with Tsarukyan might fit in.
“Probably [Max Holloway’s] got one more I think [before rematching Topuria],” Hooker said. “Obviously, [Islam Makhachev’s] going up to welterweight. Ilia will probably fight [Justin] Gaethje. That leaves Holloway, and Holloway ain’t going to fight Arman, no one wants to see that. Holloway will probably fight [Charles] Oliveira, Gaethje will fight for the title, and then that leaves my man Arman, that’s the fight I want. That’s the fight that makes sense.
“They told him one more. He’s turned down [Mateusz] Gamrot, who’s ranked one before me. Let’s be honest, [Tsarukyan’s] a walking bag of sand, but he is a very good fighter and now all those big name guys, they’ve got a good excuse to not fight him. Ilia said he’s not going to fight him. The UFC says that he needs one more. And between Arman and me, there’s Oliveira, they’ve already had that fight. … [Tsarukyan’s] stuck fighting me. He’s got to fight me to get back in the mix and to get a title shot.”
Hooker and Tsarukyan are both on win streaks, though their contender status is murky. In his most recent outing, Hooker won a split decision over Mateusz Gamrot in a Fight of the Night-winning bout, but has not competed since August. Tsarukyan’s situation is even trickier as he was set to challenge Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title at UFC 311 this past January, but a back injury forced him out of the contest a day before fight night and the expectation is that he needs a win to earn a championship opportunity again.
According to Hooker, his interest in fighting Tsarukyan is not personal and he understands why others might be reluctant to face him.
“That’s always the fight I want and not because he’s a prick and I hate him, but because I genuinely that he’s the hardest fight and all those big name guys have an excuse to not fight him because I think he is the best at winning fights,” Hooker said of Tsarukyan. “He’s not necessarily the most dangerous fighter—Oliveira is very dangerous, Gaethje is very dangerous—I think he’s the best at winning fights and so a lot of these guys have a justifiable reason to avoid fighting him and so that’s been my approach since I first stepped foot in the UFC is that I want to fight the best guys. I think Arman’s the best guy, so that’s the fight that I want and that’s the fight that I think they’re going to make happen.”
As much as Hooker respects Tsarukyan, that hasn’t stopped him from firing back at his potential opponent on social media. Hooker recently called for fights with Charles Oliveira and Tsarukyan, though his callout of Tsarukyan was considerably less polite.
Someone wake up Charlie Olives and tell him we fighting in November.
— Dan Hangman Hooker (@danthehangman) July 25, 2025
On a side note Armans a bitch and he can get it too, daddy’s home.
— Dan Hangman Hooker (@danthehangman) July 25, 2025
“That was because of our last discussion,” Hooker said, explaining his online jab. “He said, ‘On a side note…’ and he took shots at me out of nowhere. Bro, I’m the only one that’s going to fight you, you dumb f*ck. That’s the fight. I’m the only one that’s going to step up and fight the guy. Who else is going to fight the guy?
“I just like the sound of that New York card. Obviously, it would have been cool to fight in Perth and to go back to Perth and to headline with Arman in Perth, but it would have been just eight weeks. New York is 16 weeks. Would have been a bit of a rush for the hand to be good and ready [for UFC Perth], but I still was going to do it because I wanted to do it for the fans and do it for the UFC and I would have rushed back and I would have fought early and I would have fought when the hand wasn’t ready and I would have fought still kind of recovering from that injury.”