Dan Hooker believes Alexander Volkanovski`s quick return to fighting affected his performance against Ilia Topuria.
Volkanovski, after five title defenses, lost his featherweight title to Topuria at UFC 298 in February 2024. This loss came just four months after a knockout defeat to Islam Makhachev.
Hooker understands the impact of short recovery times on fighter performance.
Hooker told Sky Sports New Zealand, “I think he came back too soon after the Makhachev fight. I don`t think Topuria did anything extraordinary. Volkanovski fought too quickly, and I`ve experienced this myself. Fighting Paul Felder, then Dustin Poirier in quick succession, and then rushing into the Michael Chandler fight. Chandler didn`t do anything incredibly special either. Veteran fighters need to learn this lesson, often the hard way.”
“The body has limits to the punishment it can take before needing proper recovery. Especially with five-round fights, you need significant rest periods. Recovering from a five-round fight takes longer. Volkanovski has consistently had five-round championship training camps. He’s been a very reliable UFC champion, always stepping up, even on short notice. He just needed more time between fights to fully recover.”
“It’s going to be one heck of a fight, and I can’t wait to be sitting cage slide and just soaking it up. To get back after these two hard fights, the toughest time in his career, and to not only get through that, but to be on the other side of it and to be able to raise that title again and and prove that he’s still the champ, I can’t wait to be there.”
