Best and Worst from UFC on Fox 31: Lee vs. Iaquinta 2

#1 Worst: Hooker too tough for his own good

Dan Hooker looked too tough for his own good against Edson Barboza

Since his move to 155lbs in 2017, Dan Hooker had been developing into one of my favourite fighters to watch. Always a reliable action fighter, ‘The Hangman’ had been putting together some fantastic wins that made him look like a man on a serious rise. Edson Barboza was his opponent last night and it looked like a perfect opportunity for Hooker to really step up and challenge himself at the elite level.

Well, it turned out that Hooker wasn’t quite good enough for that level just yet. There’s absolutely no shame in that – Barboza is a proven top ten, if not top five ranked fighter – and to be honest, for about a round and a half, it was fun to see Hooker do his impression of a Kiwi version of The Terminator and somehow walk through some insane offense from the Brazilian. But after that, it ceased to be entertaining.

Hooker simply took too much damage for his own good. Sure, he displayed some of the craziest toughness in UFC history and only went down after a ludicrous barrage to the body in the third round, but should the fight have gone that far? Hooker couldn’t even stand in his corner between the second and third rounds. Surely his corner could’ve seen that he was compromised?

And if not his corner, what about the referee, who’s supposed to be there to maintain fighter safety? Hooker wasn’t incapable of standing nor was he unconscious, but he did take a criminal beating that could severely damage his career going forward. The toughness he displayed might hurt him in the long run, and there were enough people around last night to make sure that wasn’t the case. The fact that they didn’t do so was disturbing.