Dan Hooker before UFC Paris: Happy to be 'gatekeeping the top 10' – for now

PARIS – Dan Hooker is well aware of his current role in the UFC's lightweight division. Hooker (24-14 MMA, 14-10 UFC) welcomes Salahdine Parnasse (23-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) to the octagon in Saturday's UFC Fight Night 287 main event at Accor Arena (Paramount+). Hooker is currently on a two-fight losing skid, and will be facing Parnasse in enemy territory. While he put his hand up to potentially welcome Usman Nurmagomedov to the UFC, Hooker understands he's in a must-win situation this weekend. "After a couple of losses and then moving your way down the rankings, I'm more than happy to play the role that I'm in right now and the role that I'm in right now is gatekeeping the top 10 of the UFC's lightweight division," Hooker said during Wednesday's UFC Fight Night 287 media day. "And I'm more than happy to play that role. Is that a position that defines my career? No, it's not. You get your hand raised, and then I'll be looking up at the rankings, and I'll be looking to get back in the mix and to get myself back to title contention. "Yes, you're playing the role of a gatekeeper right now, but that doesn't define your career, the future of your career. The beauty of the sport is it can change in one single night. You get your hand raised against Salahdine with an impressive fight, and showcase the skill and the level that I'm prepared to showcase, that I anticipate of showcasing, we're back in the mix, we're not playing that role anymore, we're targeting someone in the top 10." Hooker has never lost three fights in a row in his career, which dates back to his March 2009 debut. He doesn't intend on letting that happen now. "It's a serious fight to get things back on track," Hooker said. "I love doing this. I love to compete here in the UFC, I love to fight, I want to fight against the best guys, and to do that, you have to win fights. You can't consistently lose fights or they tell you to take off the gloves and wrap these things up. So, I need to silence a lot of people, I need to answer a lot of questions, I need to go out there and perform at the level everyone expects of me, and we just ride the ship, and we get this back on track." Although the fight is in Paris, Hooker feels like he's been doing the heavy lifting when it comes to promoting the fight. Parnasse dismissed his trash talk in an interview with MMA Junkie by calling him "silly," which Hooker found laughable. "How dare he! I've never been insulted like that in my life, and I will not stand for it," Hooker sarcastically said. "You know what, the kid wants to be a superstar and he's out here calling me a silly Billy. If that's his best line, it's a swing and a miss." This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Dan Hooker before UFC Paris: Happy to be 'gatekeeping the top 10' – for now