Dan Hooker is all geared up to reach four wins in a row by going one-on-one against former BMF champion Justin Gaethje in a five-round bout that has been scheduled as the co-main event of UFC 313. If he wins the fight, he will equal his best streak in the Octagon between June 2017 and July 2018. But while his focus should be on getting his next win, he has taken the opportunity to take a jibe at team Khabib Nurmagomedov instead.

During an interview with The Ariel Helwani Show, the New Zealander shared that Usman Nurmagomedov made a major blunder after his win over Paul Hughes at the PFL Champions Series. The fighter who was earlier seen as a myth ended up humanizing himself in front of the crowd, and the idea of fighting a myth made it more difficult for the opponent’s mindset. In the speech, Nurmagomedov stated, “Paul Hughes, brother, you are the man, brother. You’re really the man. Brother, you are tough. Honestly, I underestimated this guy. Whew. It was my little mistake, but still undefeated, undisputed Bellator lightweight champion, Usman Nurmagomedov.”

However, according to Hooker, this humanization will only bring out opponents with a higher level of confidence than earlier. The UFC 313 star said, “The myth is bigger than the man… I feel like there was a mistake on the weekend… I feel like a mistake has been made. When have they ever—I feel like Usman made a mistake when he got on the microphone. When have you ever seen one of the Dagestani boys get on the microphone and say that they were tired, they got hurt, they got pushed to their absolute breaking point? We’ve seen them in tough fights before, but we’ve never seen one of them get on the microphone and admit it.”

Dan Hooker thinks this was an error made by Usman Nurmagomedov. All he had to do was do what the other Dagestanis did. Like Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev, all the PFL fighter had to do was get on the microphone and say that he would smash anyone. This would’ve let everyone forget that the Dagestani and Paul Hughes even had a close fight.

And Usman is the second Nurmagomedov to look human in a week. At UFC 311, his elder brother Umar lost out a decision to Merab Dvalishvili. Umar looked depleted and not too confident in the closing rounds. But in his Octagon interview, he did not cede much ground to Merab and claimed he might have done enough to win.

In comparison, Khabib had the image of a fighter who never bled once inside the Octagon. He rarely had a bruise to show from a fight. Makhachev has looked vulnerable inside the cage and bled, but he always made it look like he had the bigger dog in him.

Many fans of the Dagestani camp would like to believe that this isn’t a genuine suggestion but words that come out of malice. After all, ‘The Hangman’ was the one who had long been in a feud with Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev, and their team. It was so bad that coach Javier Mendez is rooting for Justin Gaethje to win the fight at UFC 313.

Team Khabib Nurmagomedov shows support to Dan Hooker’s rival

Islam Makhachev’s coach at the American Kickboxing Academy, Javier Mendez, recently sat for an interview with Submission Radio, where he made his prediction for Justin Gaethje’s next fight. While naming the former interim lightweight champion as Islam Makhachev’s next preferred opponent, the team Khabib Nurmagomedov member stated that he was rooting for Gaethje to win the five-round fight against Dan Hooker.

The American Kickboxing Academy coach said, “I’m pulling for him [Justin] I’m not pulling for Dan Hooker. I’m not gonna pull for a guy that’s always against us no way. And Justin Gaethje is a cool a– dude. And, I’ll tell you this um Dan Hooker has recently, I’m enjoying his talks too in his fighting night. He’s a stud but he hates us so I’m against Hooker.”

It is worth noting that it was Dan Hooker who once accused Islam Makhachev of using IV fluids to rehydrate before UFC 284. It was a major accusation for a fighter to face when he was climbing the ranks in the fight world, so it made Hooker the biggest enemy of the Dagestani camp. It is no surprise now that coach Mendez wants Justin Gaethje to be the one winning the fight against ‘The Hangman.’ But what do you think? Will ‘The Highlight’ be able to live up to team Khabib Nurmagomedov’s expectations? Let us know in the comments.