Dan Whore affected Islam Makhachev performance against UFC 280 Charles Oliveira but he fears the new champion will keep the division afloat.
hour UFC 280, took on a new champion at lightweight Islam Makhachev. An emerging champion for several years, he finally proved his worth for the entire episode, easily defeating the dangerous Charles Oliveira. Lightweight fighter Dan Hooker reacts to the division’s new champion.
In a recent interview with SubmissionRadio, Hooker reacted to Makhachev’s submission victory over Charles Oliveira. “Extraordinary performance that did this and that to a man like Charles, who gave an impressive performance as a champion” said Adam Hangman in his interview. He then went on to explain why many of the fighters in the division were hesitant to accept the new champion.
“I think the biggest hesitation people had about Islam being the champion was that he didn’t fight regularly or was as active as a guy like Charles.” said Hooker, revealing the hesitation behind accepting Dagestan as champion.
The champion has a name and this is Islam Makhachev 🏆 #UFC280 pic.twitter.com/P4uCdLcu75
– UFC (@ufc) 23 October 2022
Oliveira became champion in May 2021. Warrior fought three titles within 17 months of becoming champion. Oliveira has undoubtedly had one of the most entertaining runs as a champion in the history of the lightweight division. “Do Bronx” took part in four championship games, including the one against Islam Makhachev, and not all of them made it past the third round.
Rivalry between Dan Hooker and Islam Makhachev
Islam Makhachev was eager to fight one of his best opponents in the championship race, and he had almost no warriors open to fight the Dagestanis. Hooker engaged in a short-lived fight against Makhachev at UFC 267. Executioner and Makhachev went back and forth for a while and finally had the opportunity to face each other in the octagon.
At UFC 267, the fight ended before it could gain momentum when Makhachev captured Hooker. Makhachev finished the Kiwi shooter easiest in less than three minutes. Makhachev had barely sweated in his fight against Hooker.
Prior to their fight, the Executioner was not open to fighting a lower-ranked Mahachev. Raising all the way to UFC 280, Hooker said Charles Oliveira would beat Dagestan, and in the end it turned out to be the opposite.
Also read: “They’re trying to get him to the championship,” Dan Hooker talks about his fight against Islam Makhachev at UFC 267
