“Max Holloway went 3-3 in his first six UFC fights" - Chase Hooper credits turning UFC career to getting past the "adjustment period"

Chase Hooper is not worried about his potential despite a bleak start to his UFC career. After shocking fans with a dominant win in his ninth promotional appearance, the 24-year-old believes the best is yet to come after making his way past an "adjustment period."

On the heels of an impressive submission win over Viacheslav Borshchev at UFC St. Louis, Hooper went on The MMA Hour on May 13 with host Ariel Helwani. While acknowledging that his career thus far has been underwhelming, 'The Dream' cited former champions Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira as his inspiration to still believe he has championship potential.

Hooper said:

"There's an adjustment period [in the UFC]. For example... Max Holloway went 3-3 in his first six UFC fights. Charles Oliveira [went] 5-5 in his first 10 UFC fights. You see some of these greats in the sport that have been around forever and they had a rough start."

Hooper initially appeared on the UFC radar in 2018, beating Canaan Kawaihae on Dana White's Contender Series as an 18-year-old. The following year, he would debut in the UFC as an 8-0-1 undefeated prospect and dispatch veteran Daniel Teymur in the first round.

However, Hooper would falter shortly thereafter, going just 2-3 over the next two years. In 2023, the American would move up a weight class to the lightweight division and has since gone on a three-fight win streak.

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Chase Hooper credits move up to lightweight for his growth as a fighter

While the natural progression of his career has seen Chase Hooper develop into the fighter the UFC hoped he would become, 'The Dream' believes he was limiting himself earlier in his career by cutting too much weight as a featherweight.

In the same interview on The MMA Hour, Hooper told Ariel Helwani:

"It's hard to deny your body that growth spurt that it wants. At [145 pounds], I had to stay vegetarian in order to keep my weight down low enough to make the weight. Now at [155 pounds], I'm able to fill out... At 145 I was dying."

With the win at UFC St. Louis, Hooper became the first fighter to record a knock down against Viacheslav Borshchev while also being the first person to submit the Russian. Borshchev entered the fight with a sizeable striking advantage on paper as a former kickboxing world champion but landed just two significant strikes the entire fight.