When the UFC came calling to ask Dan Hooker to fight in a main event in Paris against a local favorite making his debut, the veteran lightweight didn’t blink and immediately said yes.
Hooker has never avoided enemy territory when it comes to his fights and he had an itchy feeling the UFC knew he was the one person ranked in the top 15 at lightweight who wouldn’t turn down that opportunity. His opponent Salahdine Parnassse isn’t a household name by any means but he held titles in two divisions while competing in KSW and the French fans definitely love and support him.
In fact, the fanbase in France adores Parnasse so much that as soon as the fight got announced, Hooker started getting bombarded with messages on social media including more than a few that came across as death threats. Now that might seem a little severe for a UFC fight but it really didn’t bother Hooker all that much, especially knowing he’d get to keep those receipts for his post-fight celebration when he wins on Saturday.
“I like that,” Hooker told MMA Fighting. “Get your bits in before the fight. Hindsight is 20/20. Anyone can be right in retrospect. It happens to come back and shoot your shit. After the fight? Nah! Make your call. Get your Mystic Mac.”
That said, Hooker admits that after he first spoke about the death threats coming from some French fans, he actually received more than a few messages welcoming him to the country wih enthusiasm that he accepted the matchup and the main event at UFC Paris.
“Since I did say that, I’ve had a lot of French fans reaching out to me and say that they’re just excited for the fight and they’re excited that I’m making the trip out there,” Hooker said. “I’ve had a lot of people just reach out and kind of apologize for the death threats and they’re excited for me to come over and put on a show.
“I don’t even feel like I’m walking into hostile territory. I feel like there will be a lot of people excited for the fight.”
While death threats should always be taken seriously, Hooker isn’t losing any sleep over those kinds of messages because ultimately his job comes down to one thing — beating Salahdine Parnasse at UFC Paris.
The fans who chose to write those nasty messages can yell, scream and boo him all they want once he walks out to the octagon but Hooker knows not a single one of them can actually help Parnasse in the fight.
“Whether they love me or hate me, I couldn’t care less,” Hooker said. “I feed off the energy entirely. At the end of the day, there ain’t nothing anybody can do about it. He could have 10 or 20,000 people in there who want to kill me.
“Ain’t nothing they can do but shut the f*ck up and eat their popcorn and watch me beat their boy. That’s all they’ve got in store.”
Hooker also acknowledges that even though this is Parnasse’s debut in the UFC, this is by far the biggest opportunity of his young career and that’s going to put a lot of pressure on him.
Throughout his own UFC career, Hooker has felt the highest of highs and the lowest of lows so this kind of matchup is nothing new for him. But the same can’t be said for Parnasse, who has never felt the bright lights and the intense scrutiny that comes along with headlining a major UFC card.
“He’s the one out here with something to prove,” Hooker said. “I’ve just got to shut up this no-name kid. That’s easy for me.”
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