Dan Hooker isn’t shying away from admitting exactly what’s driving him into the octagon against “new kids” like Salahdine Parnasse, and it has little to do with rankings or reputation.

The veteran lightweight will take on Parnasse in the main event of UFC Paris 2026 at the Accor Arena this weekend.

Dan Hooker will take on newcomer Salahdine Parnasse in the main event of UFC Paris 2026 [Image via UFC on Paramount+]

Ahead of the fight, Hooker spoke about the upcoming bout set to be the “biggest payday” of his career, and said that he would even fight Francis Ngannou if offered the same money. In an interview with RMC Sport Combat, ‘Hangman’ said:

If they pay me this much money to fight the new kids then I’ll be fighting the new kids until the day I die…I’d fight Francis Ngannou for the amount of money they’re paying. Biggest payday of my career for sure.

Check out Dan Hooker’s comments below:

Despite fighting some of the biggest names in the division, including Islam Makhachev, Dustin Poirier, and even Michael Chandler, it’s Parnasse who is set to hand Hooker the biggest purse of his career.

Dan Hooker Brings Up Michael Chandler and Salahdine Parnasse to explain why he will be Usman Nurmagomedov’s First Fight

Usman Nurmagomedov might be one of the biggest names next in line to join the UFC. The undefeated (22-0) fighter has not renewed his contract with the PFL (MVP MMA), making him one of MMA’s hottest free agents.

And Dan Hooker believes he will be the one to welcome Nurmagomedov to the promotion. Citing examples of already having fought a debutant, Michael Chandler, and his upcoming fight against another debutant, Salahdine Parnasse, Hooker stated in an interview with Submission Radio:

It’s the same thing as when I fought Chandler; it’s the same thing with this Parnasse guy. It’ll be the same thing with Usman. No one else will take the fight… None of these other guys in the division wanna risk it. So they call up Dan Hooker, offer him a bit of danger money, and he welcomes these boys to the big leagues. [via Championship Rounds]

Check out Dan Hooker’s comments below:

Gerard Crispin

Gerard Crispin is an editor and writer with expertise across MMA, Football, Tennis, Cricket, NBA and F1. He has published over 3500 articles in Combat Sports, across multiple websites, viz. Sportskeeda, FanSided MMA, MediaReferee, FirstSportz and PFSN. Crispin currently covers UFC for LowKickMMA.