‘He’s just a mouthy little rich pr*ck’: Dan Hooker explains why he dislikes Arman Tsarukyan so much

Dan Hooker has been anxiously awaiting his chance to return to action after a hand injury kept him sidelined for months but his greatest wish was granted when the UFC offered him a fight against Arman Tsarukyan in the main event for the first ever event in Qatar.

There are a multitude of reasons why Hooker wanted this particular matchup, not the least of which is UFC CEO Dana White announcing that the winner is expected to move onto challenge for the lightweight title. But Hooker’s issues with his upcoming opponent date back several years after he first arrived in the UFC and Tsarukyan took direct aim at him personally.

“My original problem with him was when he first came into the UFC and pretty early on he was chiming in and discrediting my skill set, discrediting my accomplishments, saying I don’t want to fight him and I’m running from him and things like this,” Hooker told MMA Fighting. “I feel like he’s kind of kicked that off or opened that door and answer back and stand my ground.”

After the fight was offered and accepted, Hooker immediately expressed his excitement while also revealing even more details why he’s got such a problem with Tsarukyan and it largely centers around privilege.

While no one doubts Tsarukyan’s credentials as a fighter, Hooker pointed out that his next opponent comes from a family of great means with his father owning and operating a construction business with a net worth that reportedly reaches nine-figures. Tsarukyan didn’t discount the fact that he comes from money and he considers it jealousy that other fighters somehow hold that against him.

Of course, Tsarukyan probably didn’t help his cause much when he said he didn’t have “too much money” because couldn’t buy a private jet or a private yacht to call his own.

Hooker believes that mentality is really what separates him from Tsarukyan in terms of what drives and motivates them to win.

“I feel like we just come from different places,” Hooker explained. “I feel like he’s just a rich little spoiled kid and he acts like that. Pulling out of a title fight the day before and people have seen my career. They’ve seen me take the knocks. They’ve seen me pick myself back up. They’ve seen me just tough it out and come from nothing, the first New Zealand based fighter to make it to the UFC. Look at it now, we’ve been able to grind something out.

“I feel like I’m a fighter for the working man and represent hard working and sticking at it and getting things out and accomplishing what you want through that. I feel like he’s had everything handed to him. The best coaches and the best training and fly around here and just kind of had the easy road. It’s the working man versus Richie Rich.”

After the fight was first announced, Hooker also made it clear that he’s not going to be intimidated by Tsarukyan before, during or after they clash.

He made a point to reference a pre-fight altercation between Tsarukyan and Bobby Green after they got into a heated confrontation that turned physical at a hotel prior to a UFC event. Hooker vowed that if Tsarukyan made the mistake of coming after him with that same kind of aggression that he wouldn’t back down and the UFC Qatar main event might get started a little earlier than expected.

Truth be told, Hooker promises he wasn’t trying to hype the fight or make some kind of veiled threat but rather just an emphatic warning that he’s not going to let Tsarukyan or anybody else bully him.

“I don’t think it’s just talk,” Hooker said. “I don’t even like to say in this situation I’ll do this. I feel like he’s just a mouthy little rich prick and I’m just not a person that backs down. That’s just the situation we’re in.

“We’re just going to have to wait and see until we see each other. I’m not a person that you can just push around and bully and expect to back down. I’m going to stand my ground 10 times out of 10.”

So far fight week hasn’t produced any incidents between Hooker and Tsarukyan so it appears cooler heads have prevailed and the first punches thrown won’t happen until Saturday.

When it comes to the actual fight in the octagon, Hooker says he’s ready for anything and everything that Tsarukyan could possibly throw at him, although he already knows that the matchup is being billed as striker against grappler.

At his best, Hooker is lethal on the feet with the ability to go toe-to-toe with just about anybody in the world at 155 pounds while Tsarukyan has built his reputation on being a suffocating and powerful wrestler capable of grinding anybody into the mat who’s willing to test him there.

That’s why Hooker isn’t hiding his approach when it comes to dealing with Tsarukyan and the inevitable takedowns he’ll try to land during the fight.

“I feel like I’ve improved in my wrestling in the last couple of years, especially with this time off, I feel like my mentality has changed a lot,” Hooker said. “I feel like Charles Oliveira showed it in the [Mateusz] Gamrot fight, it’s something that you just have to do. You can’t just say I’m fighting a wrestler, I’m going to avoid the wrestling. Charles Oliveira, he started shooting takedowns. You can’t avoid anything. Anything you avoid, you’re running scared. So if Arman wants to wrestle, we can wrestle. I’ll be there for it 100 percent. If he wants to grapple, we can grapple. I’m not too concerned with that. I’m going to go out there and do what I do.

“It’s something that you can’t avoid anything. You have to meet it head on. I’ll be happy to wrestle. As he says, ‘I’m going to wrestle him and make him tired.’ We can wrestle but we’re both going to get tired. I’m just very experienced at being tired inside of that cage. It’s not something that I’m going to shy away from. It’s not something I’m trying to avoid. If he wants to wrestle, we can wrestle but I guarantee he’s going to get tired first.”

There’s even more on the line with this fight now that Hooker has been promised a title shot with a win. That’s the least of his concerns right now because he can’t look past Tsarukyan or the challenge awaiting him on Saturday.

But Hooker actually views his upcoming fight as killing two birds with one stone after he vowed to help the UFC out by getting rid of Tsarukayan from the lightweight contender’s race and then assuming his position as the No. 1 contender to fight for the title in 2026.

“I got the fight by telling the matchmakers please let me get rid of this guy,” Hooker said. “I said please let me smash Arman’s face and get him out of the way. Next thing I walked into the fight. So my prayers have been answered.”