Dan Hooker opened himself up to a lot of possibilities at UFC 305. Edging past Mateusz Gamrot in a slugfest has likely earned him a top 5 spot. This could mean he is just one win away from a title shot. But is that all? Hooker’s post-fight interview was a gentle reminder that the undisputed title is not the only title now available at the 155 division.

Former UFC contender, Chael Sonnen, has put the New Zealander on the list of fighters who can compete for the BMF title after Max Holloway and Ilia Topuria settled their scores at UFC 308. After all, Hooker did announce his desire to wear the BMF belt during the post-fight interview. 

Dan Hooker enters the BMF title talks months before Max Holloway vs. Ilia Topuria

Right after the entertaining events of UFC 305, ‘The American Gangster’ talked about the BMF title on his YouTube talk show, ‘Bad Guy Inc.’ He commended Ilia Topuria for snatching the championship belt from Alexander Volkanovski with a finisher in the second round at UFC 298. It was indeed an ending that many didn’t anticipate. However, Sonnen believed that it was necessary for the UFC to move forward with its plans for Holloway. 

Sonnen said, “Had Ilia not got the jump on Volk, Volk stays champion, you’re still stuck with what do we do with Max. My guess, even in light of what we know now and him being the BMF champion, he would have stayed at 155. And then we’d have a discussion of how far can he go at 55 for the undisputed title. Oh, by the way, should we even pursue that, or should we just keep him at 55 and defend the BMF, like, right, it’s one of these really interesting positions.”

But then, with Hooker’s latest win over Gamrot, the MMA promotion might just witness the Kiwi fighter going against the winner of the featherweight title fight at UFC 308. Sonnen linked ‘The Hangman’ with Max Holloway, claiming that the New Zealander was one of the most loved fighters in the MMA promotion. He can sell quite a bit of tickets and stop formidable opponents. However, it was his age that has begun to bring trouble for Hooker. But the BMF title seemed pretty achievable to Sonnen. 

‘The bad Guy’ continued, “So, what would you do when I’m talking about if he was to lose tonight to Gamrot. And now that he didn’t and now that that’s back open, we have a real conversation. I’m not predicting for you that he’s going to go out and get a BMF title fight. I’m just suggesting for you.”

Up until UFC 300, Holloway was in limbo as well. With three losses to Volkanovski, he might have ended up being the gatekeeper at featherweight. Lucky for him, a shutout performance at UFC 300 against Justin Gaethje earned him a ranking at lightweight (currently #9) and opened him up for a title shot at two divisions.

If Holloway wins at UFC 308, he can defend his title or go for a second title at 155 lbs. Why? He has already beaten most of the featherweight top contenders. If he loses to Topuria, he has a BMF belt to get him big fights – including one against Hooker. Given that the won the belt at 155 lbs, it will likely be contested at 155 lbs for the foreseeable future.

But Holloway or Topuria weren’t the only ones that Hooker wanted to fight next. He called out Conor McGregor following his UFC 305 win. 

Who does ‘The Hangman’ want to fight next?

Immediately after Daniel Cormier brought the microphone to Hooker’s vicinity following the fight and asked him about his next opponent, he announced, “I want them all brother. I want the BMF, I want Conor McGregor, I want a title eliminator, I want everything brotha!” Even though things were pretty uncertain when it involved the Irish mixed martial artist, Hooker asking for McGregor was something that caught the attention of fans and professionals alike. 

However, it’s not the championship belt that Hooker is looking forward to. Interestingly, ‘The Hangman’ was all in to grab a thicker wallet. After all, the former UFC double champion was capable of garnering record-breaking gates for a fight that never really materialized.

Does Hooker bring more to the table for McGregor than Chandler? In a way, yes. Beating Hooker could guarantee a top 5 spot for McGregor if he wants to pursue a title shot at 155 lbs. But the Irishman is leaning towards competing at 170 lbs and we do not know if that is an option for Hooker.

Do you think Dan Hooker will be able to get hold of the UFC BMF belt? Let us know in the comments down below.