The only lightweight bout on UFC 305 was between Dan Hooker and Mateusz Gamrot. Dan “The Hangman” Hooker is one of many fan favourites at 155lbs and is a veteran of the game. He is known for his very fan friendly style of striking and incredible grit and determination. Hooker is also known for being able to tank shots which would have folded lesser chins. Hooker is riding on a 2 fight win streak having an incredible fight last time out against Jalin Turner. A win here could throw Hooker into the top 5.
Mateusz Gamrot is a rising contender known for his grappling heavy style. Gamrot to has also beaten Jailn Turner however in less impressive fashion than Hooker. Gamrots best win is easily over the next title challenger Arman Tsarukyan. That fight was a close affair with many amazing grappling exchanges and scrambles and overall a fun fight. However, Gamrot hasn’t really been able to shine recently with Fiziev’s injury in their fight and looking unimpressive against a washed RDA.
Dan Hooker Earns Hard Fought Victory Over Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 305 t
Round 1 as all the rounds in this fight was action packed. From the get go Hooker looked to apply educated pressure to Gamrot in an effort to reduce the takedown threat. Hooker probed with a few body kicks but in doing so took a couple of right hands from Gamrot. Gamrot was eventually able to get Dan down but Hooker immediately scooted all the way to the cage and worked his way up. Gamrot cracked Hooker with a big right hand dropping the veteran and was able to land good ground and pound. But, Hooker was able to get up and dropped Gamrot himself towards the end of the round.
Round 2 saw more success from Hooker. Gamrot was able to secure a takedown and keep Dan down for a while however Hooker was able to get up. Hooker kept pressuring Gamrot and Gamrot kept going for takedowns. Dan was able to stop other takedown attempts and utilised elbows and guillotines whilst scrambling. Hooker continued having success in the stand up.
Round 3 was all to play for with both men being 1-a piece. Hooker was successfully able to stop the takedown attempts from Gamrot. This led to the final round being a war of attrition on the feet, Both Hooker and Gamrot were tired but kept fighting on. Gamrot was able to land shots on Hooker but Dan was able to eat them and keep coming forward to land shots of his own. Towards the end of the round Hooker turned it up landing good shots and seemingly hurting Gamrot. After 3 rounds Hooker was awarded a split decision victory.
Implications For The Hangman
This win is huge for The Hangman securing a win over a big player in the division. Hooker for a while has just been outside of the very top echelon of the division and now has finally broken back into it. This opens up doors for plenty of fights in the top 5 for Hooker such as Olivera, Gaethje, and Poirer. All of which are winnable and very exciting fights. The future looks bright for the veteran who extends his winning streak to 3 in a row.
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