Dan Hooker gets brutally honest about Ilia Topuria potentially moving up to lightweight: "Line one of McGregor's playbook"

Dan Hooker recently offered a candid perspective on the possibility of Ilia Topuria making the move up to the lightweight division. The reigning UFC featherweight champion has hinted at a potential move to 155 pounds in his quest to become a two-division champion, even dropping former titleholder Charles Oliveira's name for his division debut.

'El Matador' has frequently faced criticism from a portion of the MMA community for allegedly mimicking the antics and career path of former UFC two-division champion Conor McGregor. Hooker is among those who share this view.

During a recent interview with Submission Radio, 'The Hangman' weighed in on Topuria's future plans and suggested that the undefeated Spaniard is merely trying to stir up attention with his comments, much like McGregor often does:

"It's pretty evident that he's just working off the line one from McGregor's playbook, which is keeping your name in the headlines. So, all I kind of see from it is that Ilia Topuria is keeping his name in the headlines—like the guy doesn't fight that often. I think he just fights Volk [Volkanovski] next year."

Check out Dan Hooker's comments below (8:50):

Topuria secured the 145-pound title with a knockout of former longtime champion Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 in February. 'El Matador' successfully retained his crown with another impressive knockout victory over Max Holloway at UFC 308 in October.

---

Ilia Topuria’s coach explains why moving to lightweight is on the cards

During a recent interview with Submission Radio, Ilia Topuria's head coach, Jorge Climent, shared his thoughts on the possibility of his fighter stepping up a weight class.

Climent said that 'El Matador' has been struggling with the challenges of making weight for the featherweight division but competing at 155 pounds would be a much more suitable option for him:

"Yeah, the real thing, I think, is he hates to cut weight. He does it a lot of times, and it’s very hard every time we do it. He doesn’t want to do this anymore, and that’s why he wants to go up to the next weight class, you know because he thinks his normal weight is in that weight class."

Check out Jorge Climent's comments below (0:32):