Forward of his UFC 325 showdown with Benoit Saint-Denis in Sydney this weekend, New Zealand light-weight Dan Hooker made it clear that he has a philosophy that units him aside from the everyday fighter. In his pre-fight press convention, he defined how he found the mentality that defines his strategy to fight: deliberately crushing his opponent’s ambitions.
Hooker has charted his psychological evolution round his change in perspective since his loss to Arman Tsarukian in November 2025. The New Zealander, ranked sixth within the light-weight division with an expert file of 24 wins and 13 losses, admitted that going into the Tsarukian battle with an excessive amount of confidence price him. The bout resulted in an arm triangle submission within the second spherical, a brutal end that prompted some regret.
Dan Hooker: “They will pay me some huge cash to destroy folks’s goals.”
Hooker candidly revealed that he has found what works finest for him contained in the cage. “I need to destroy his goals,” he stated, including that this mindset might make him a troublesome particular person. His coaching companions offered reassurance. “They stated, ‘No, it isn’t. No, it isn’t,'” he defined. “They will pay me some huge cash to destroy folks’s goals. And I am nonetheless man. I discovered my area of interest, child.”
Hooker operates from a spot the place confidence turns into accountability, with little question in his driving readiness. He detailed how the uncertainty throughout coaching camp has really helped. The much less assured you’re in your preparation, the more durable your coaching shall be and the extra totally you’ll put together for any eventuality.
no extra goals
A part of Mr. Hooker’s unconventional pondering is clear in his philosophy about visualization and objectives. When requested about his goals and aspirations for UFC 325, he revealed a stunning truth. “I have not had a dream in years,” he stated. He defined that by discovering a method that works within the dream world, he solved a typical nightmare amongst martial artists of being unable to deal injury when hanging an opponent.
“I squeezed them and introduced them to my knees, inflicting heaps of cuts and spilling heaps of blood, and I by no means dreamed once more after I discovered a strategy to hit folks in my goals,” he stated. I timed it. ”His life objectives had been simplified to monetary ones. It is about making extra money than you possibly can spend, a practical ambition stripped of any glorified notions of championship glory.
Ranked No. 8 at light-weight with a file of 16-3-0 (one no contest), Saint-Denis presents a posh puzzle. The Frenchman engineered a outstanding comeback after struggling defeats to Dustin Poirier in March 2024 and Renato Moicano in September 2024. Since these setbacks, Saint-Denis has gone on a three-fight win streak, together with a surprising 16-second knockout of veteran Beneil Dariş at UFC 322 in November 2025. His technical proficiency, particularly his grappling, is mixed with sophistication. He’s a authentic risk if attacked.
“That is one thing I respect. That is as a result of I am somebody who fell off the canvas myself, misplaced just a few occasions, then went again on a successful streak and misplaced just a few occasions. I understand how onerous that’s. I understand how a lot character it takes as an individual to rise up off the mat.”
For Hooker, the primary card co-event in Sydney is a chance to reaffirm himself. Preventing in Australia comes with its personal set of pressures, however his Metropolis Kickboxing workforce thrives there. In the meantime, Saint-Denis faces a hostile setting and a fighter who fearlessly embraces the chaos that defines martial arts. Hooker’s earlier camp with Tsarukyan was sophisticated by an accident by which he broke his nostril from a headbutt through the weigh-in, however he withdrew with out hesitation.
As UFC 325 approaches on February 1st in Sydney, Hooker will go into the battle having readjusted and refined the psychological framework that failed him towards Tsarukyan.
