Dan Hooker open, but calls shot for UFC 266

6/17/2021 3:36:51 PM EST

Dan Hooker plans to be part of the UFC 266 card and the New Zealander wants to name his opponent.

Hooker was squeezed out of UFC 263 last week because an opponent couldn't be found, but he would prefer a date with Nate Diaz or Tony Ferguson.

To be clear, Hooker let UFC know he's willing to fight "anyone" at the Sept. 25 event.

Hooker, who is 10-6 in the UFC and 20-10 overall in MMA, said Diaz piqued his interest recently when he said he'd be ready to go after three months off.

"Definitely, that fight has my interest," Hooker told MMA Junkie. "I had just seen the video of him saying he wants to get back in there in three or four months, and if you want to fight put your hand up, and that's something I'm quite well known for - is putting my hands up for fights and taking opportunities and not staying silent in moments like that. I'm not afraid to ask for things that I want. I just see a good fight. I just feel I'll bring the kind of fight that would do a Diaz brother justice, and it works in the timeline.

"He said three or four months - that September card, Volkanovski's card (. That's three or four months. But that's my date. My date is set for that. If he wants it, he wants it. We can get it done and we can get in there whatever weight class. But I'm not going to hang around and wait and hold my breath. That's my date. I've got my date set. If he wants it, he wants it. If he doesn't want it, I'm just going to chew my way down the list until I can get a name that says yes."

Alexander Volkanovski is defending the featerweight title against Brian Ortega at UFC 266.

Ferguson, 37, dropped three fights in a row and is 15-4 in UFC, 25-6 overall. That matchup gets Hooker "excited" he said.

Ferguson lost unanimous decisions at UFC 262 (Beneil Dariush) and UFC 256 (Charles Oliveira) and suffered a TKO in the main event at UFC 249 at the hands of Justin Gaethje at UFC 249. Prior to that 0-3 run he'd won 12 consecutive fights.

"They want to see you in fights that you're excited to be in," Hooker said. "That Tony Ferguson-Dan Hooker fight, I feel like that's a bloodbath. I feel like that's an absolute war, and that's a fight that definitely gets me up and gets me excited - so it's on my list."

--Field Level Media

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