{"id":139878,"date":"2020-06-27T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-27T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=139878"},"modified":"2020-06-30T13:57:38","modified_gmt":"2020-06-30T20:57:38","slug":"dustin-poirier-favored-over-dan-hooker-in-critical-lightweight-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/dustin-poirier-favored-over-dan-hooker-in-critical-lightweight-fight\/","title":{"rendered":"UFC on ESPN Odds: Poirier Favored Over Hooker in Critical Lightweight Fight"},"content":{"rendered":"

American Dustin Poirier faces off against New Zealand\u2019s Dan Hooker in a battle of two top-five lightweights in the main event of UFC on ESPN this Saturday. The bout will be held at the company\u2019s Apex facility in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

\"Poirier
Dustin Poirier (left) battles Khabib Nurmagomedov (right) during their UFC lightweight championship fight at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi during UFC 242 on Sept. 6, 2019. (Image: Anadolu Agency\/Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

William Hill sees Poirier as a -220 favorite over Hooker (+180) in a bout that could eventually lead to a title shot for the winner.<\/p>\n

Poirier Promises Not to Overlook Hooker<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Poirier (25-6) has already had one shot at the crown, losing last September to Khabib Nurmagomedov<\/a> by submission. Still, he remains firmly established in the upper crust of UFC lightweights. In a sense, that makes Hooker (20-8) a slight downgrade in competition, though Poirier has been careful not to frame it that way.<\/p>\n

This guy is dangerous. This guy is a top opponent, a top-five ranked fighter in the UFC for a reason,\u201d<\/strong> Poirier told MMA Junkie. \u201cI don\u2019t like the fact that fans and stuff are just passing him over, because this is a dangerous guy I\u2019ve been preparing very seriously for.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On the other side, Hooker has the opportunity to establish himself as a lightweight title contender. Wins over the likes of Al Iaquinta<\/a> and Paul Felder have shown he\u2019s a real contender; another victory over Poirier will put him squarely in the title picture.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve been overlooked,\u201d Hooker told Yahoo Sports. \u201cPeople saw that I went 3-3 in my first six UFC fights and they saw I\u2019m beatable. They, as a result, never could see me developing into this super unbeatable, larger-than-life creature they like to create. I\u2019ve never viewed the sport that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hooker has upped his game throughout his time in the UFC. He has settled on a kickboxing-based game plan that makes him dangerous against any opponent. But this represents a clear step up in competition for Hooker, and unless he continues to improve even from his recent victories, Poirier should be able to get a finish sometime in the late rounds.<\/p>\n

Undercard: Perry Favored Over Gall in Co-Main Event<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In the co-main event, Mike Perry (13-6) and Mickey Gall (6-2) face off in an interesting welterweight clash that could end very early. Perry (-340 at William Hill) has the knockout power to finish the fight with one blow, and Gall (+270) is aggressive enough to step right into one of those punches. But if Gall can actually turn this into a grappling contest, the submission specialist should have a chance to pull off the upset.<\/p>\n

\n

Further down on the card, middleweight prospect Brendan Allen (-300) takes on the undefeated Kyle Daukaus (+240), while Gian Villante (+190) makes his debut at heavyweight against the veteran kickboxer Maurice Greene (-230).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The main card kicks off with a featherweight bout between undefeated prospect Sean Woodson (-490) and Julian Erosa (+370), a late replacement who has bounced between smaller promotions and the UFC, decisively losing his last three bouts win the promotion.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

American Dustin Poirier faces off against New Zealand\u2019s Dan Hooker in a battle of two top-five lightweights in the main event of UFC on ESPN this Saturday. The bout will be held at the company\u2019s Apex facility in Las Vegas. William Hill sees Poirier as a -220 favorite over Hooker (+180) in a bout that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":139879,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDustin Poirier Favored Over Dan Hooker in Critical Lightweight Fight<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dustin Poirier is a strong favorite against Dan Hooker in the main event of UFC on ESPN, a fight that could propel the winner into title contention.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dustin Poirier Favored Over Dan Hooker in Critical Lightweight Fight\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dustin Poirier is a strong favorite against Dan Hooker in the main event of UFC on ESPN, a fight that could propel the winner into title contention.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/dustin-poirier-favored-over-dan-hooker-in-critical-lightweight-fight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-06-27T08:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-06-30T20:57:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Dustin-Poirier-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"3236\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2168\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/dustin-poirier-favored-over-dan-hooker-in-critical-lightweight-fight\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/dustin-poirier-favored-over-dan-hooker-in-critical-lightweight-fight\/\",\"name\":\"Dustin Poirier Favored Over Dan Hooker in Critical Lightweight Fight\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/dustin-poirier-favored-over-dan-hooker-in-critical-lightweight-fight\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/dustin-poirier-favored-over-dan-hooker-in-critical-lightweight-fight\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Dustin-Poirier-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-27T08:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-06-30T20:57:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Dustin Poirier is a strong favorite against Dan Hooker in the main event of UFC on ESPN, a fight that could propel the winner into title contention.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/dustin-poirier-favored-over-dan-hooker-in-critical-lightweight-fight\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/dustin-poirier-favored-over-dan-hooker-in-critical-lightweight-fight\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/dustin-poirier-favored-over-dan-hooker-in-critical-lightweight-fight\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Dustin-Poirier-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Dustin-Poirier-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":3236,\"height\":2168,\"caption\":\"Dustin Poirier (left) battles Khabib Nurmagomedov (right) during their UFC lightweight championship fight at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi during UFC 242 on Sept. 6, 2019. 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