Dan Hooker claims fight with Charles Oliveira is ‘set in stone’ after backstage chat with Hunter Campbell at UFC 305

Dan Hooker reveals his backstage chat with UFC ends in Charles Oliveira

If you have 20 minutes to spare anytime this week, be sure to check out the hugely entertaining new episode of The Mac Life's Pub Talk series, featuring Oscar Willis and fan favorite Dan Hooker.

At one point in the conversation, Willis revealed that after a few drinks to celebrate the 305th anniversary, they happened to run into UFC CBO Hunter Campbell in the lobby of the fighter hotel, who had just started securing his next opponent.

“He says, 'Who do you want to fight next?' and I say, 'I'm going to destroy every dog, give me every single dog!'” Hooker laughed, noting, “My manager Ash was there too and he was like, 'How about I do the matchmaking, brother?'”

Well, according to Willis and Hooker, the UFC matchmaker was apparently convinced to let former champion Charles Oliveira face “The Hangman” next – although the New Zealander also stated that he tried to convince Campbell to give him Arman Tsarukyan as well.

“Yeah, they want Charles, it's a good fight, but I mean, there's a lot of cool shit I could do, the lay of the country is pretty crazy and it's such a wild sport, so we'll see how it plays out.

“I don’t care at all, [I want to fight] everybody, brother – even Arman, brother. I told Hunter I'd love to fight Arman, because fuck it, we're going to take the hardest path to the title that I can find; Turner, Gamrot, Arman, Islam – I just don't care, brother.”

After the seemingly drunken but nonetheless hilarious conversation with Hunter Campbell, Hooker's manager reportedly told the two men that the fight against Oliveira was “set in stone” behind the scenes.

“Dan's manager comes to us and says, 'Dan, it's Charles – it's fixed' and you just say, 'Arman'… 'No, no, no, it's Charles' – 'Arman'; and he says, 'So, Arman is fighting for the title' and you just say, 'Arman, interim title?'

“That’s how you negotiate with Dan,” laughed the legendary MMA reporter, as Hooker himself justified his desire to face Arman Tsarukyan, albeit with a fitting word or two for the 22-3 Armenian.

“I said I hate the asshole; I told Hunter I was going to punch his face in and I hate the dog… He's just an asshole, he's been talking shit for years, bro.”

“It's like the duality of fighting: There's no one in the world I hate more than the other guys in the division, but there's also no one in the world I respect more than the other guys there.”

Dan Hooker accidentally reveals UFC will return to Sydney in 2025

Ironically, “setting” his next fight against Charles Oliveira wasn’t the only surprising announcement in the episode, as both Hooker and Willis revealed that the UFC will return Down Under in the first quarter of 2025.

“I'd love to get one more fight in this year,” Hooker explained, before getting caught up in the reveal of the upcoming UFC schedule: “I've got a baby due in February, so that's a close call, because there's another card in the pipeline… Ugh.”

“There will be a card in Sydney in February,” Willis claimed.

“Yes, but my wife is still a few days away from her due date, so it's a close call,” noted The Hangman as he planned his way back to Islam Makhachev.

“If we can pull one out this year, that would be incredible. And I guess next year we can fight for the title.”

With the victory over Gamrot at UFC 305, Dan Hooker improves his professional record to 24-12 and extends his winning streak to three.

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