Dan Hooker's continued climb up the UFC's lightweight division could take a serious jump should a potential blockbuster bout come to fruition.
Hooker moved up two places to fifth in the UFC's lightweight rankings after beating Paul Felder by split decision after going the distance in their five five-minute rounds at UFC Auckland on Sunday.
Hooker responded to the move with a comment on Twitter this morning saying, "can you see me now?" alongside an emoji of a diamond - no doubt a challenge to former lightweight champion and currently second-ranked fighter Dustin "The Diamond" Poirier.
It backed up comments Hooker made on popular MMA podcast the Ariel Helwani's MMA Show where he said, "if [fourth-ranked] Dustin Gaethje is busy, then Poirier is the man. Either Gaethje or Poirier - those are the only two options that make sense to me."
With Gaethje reportedly set to take on Conor McGregor later this year, that left only one option in Hooker's eyes and his target finally responded this morning.
Poirier initially shrugged off the Kiwi's recent tweeted question saying "barely" before responding with a more serious response that has UFC fans buzzing.
"I got 25 minutes for you."
Poirier beat Max Holloway by decision at UFC 236 last April to win the interim UFC lightweight title but lost it five months later to current and undisputed champion Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 242 when he was taken down by a rear-naked choke in the third round.
That loss was the 31-year-old's last time inside the octagon and saw his career record fall to 25-6.
Hooker on the other hand is on a three-fight win streak after beating Felder having bounced back convincingly from his TKO loss to Edson Barboza back in 2018.
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