Daniel Cormier Criticizes Dan Hooker's Acceptance of Gatekeeper Role

Former UFC fighter Daniel Cormier has voiced his disapproval of Dan Hooker's apparent comfort with being labeled a "gatekeeper" in the lightweight division, particularly after Hooker's recent loss at UFC Paris.

Hooker faced debutant Salahdine Parnasse, a former two-division KSW champion. Parnasse made a strong impression, securing a first-round TKO victory over Hooker with a powerful body kick and ground strikes. Leading up to the fight, Hooker had openly stated his willingness to embrace the gatekeeper role to some extent.

In a post-fight analysis video, Cormier shared his concerns. "When people generally hear that they’re a gatekeeper or put in that position, they’re mad," Cormier stated on his YouTube channel. "They’re upset, and they fight that with all that they can. Dan Hooker seemed to be embracing that and said, ‘There’ve been a couple losses, and then moving your way down the rankings, I’m more than happy to play the role that I’m in right now, and the role that I’m in right now is gatekeeping the top 10 of the UFC’s lightweight division.’ Me personally, I think there’s too much acceptance, too much comfort in that."

This sentiment comes as Hooker has now lost three consecutive bouts, with his last win being a split decision against Mateusz Gamrot in 2024. Cormier believes that Hooker needs to fundamentally change his approach if he hopes to overcome this losing streak.

"Losing hurts in any way," Cormier continued. "You cannot accept that. When you hear a fighter do that, it just isn’t good because you do that before the fight, and then the fight goes in the way that it did. That’s not good. That’s really, really not good for Dan Hooker. So I’m very interested to see what happens with him going forward."