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UFC veteran Dan Hooker has explained why he’s open to taking risky fights ahead of his UFC Paris main event against Salahdine Parnasse.

This weekend at UFC Paris, Dan Hooker will attempt to make a real statement when he welcomes newcomer Salahdine Parnasse to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. ‘Hangman’ has been in there against some of the best of his generation, and now he’s ready to try to prove that he still belongs near the top of the lightweight division.

RELATED: Dan Hooker details ‘death threats’ received from Salahdine Parnasse’s fans since UFC Paris announcement

Parnasse, of course, will view a Dan Hooker fight as an excellent way to immediately announce himself as a legitimate contender at 155 pounds. Whether or not that happens, though, depends entirely on how he can handle the pressure of the spotlight.

In a recent interview, Hooker spoke about his thought process behind taking risky fights.

Dan Hooker talks taking risky fights

“It’s the same thing as when I fought Chandler. It’s the same thing with this Parnasse guy,” Hooker told Submission Radio. “It’ll be the same thing with Usman. No one else will take the fight. … You think Ilia Topuria’s going to take that risk of fighting an unranked non-UFC fighter? No one else wants to take the risk.

“It’s the same reason why I was the guy to fight Chandler. It’s the same reason why they’re paying me money to fight Parnasse is because none of these other guys in the division want to risk it for the biscuit. So they call up Dan Hooker, they offer him a bit of danger money, and he welcomes these boys to the big leagues.”

Hooker then specifically spoke about a possible showdown with Usman Nurmagomedov.

“That would be the exciting thing for me with that fight is you would get another chance to step in there and go up against a legacy,” Hooker said. “Going to a guy’s hometown and ruining his debut, that puts a little fuzzy feeling in my stomach.”

Quotes via MMA Junkie

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