A new heated rivalry has recently developed in the UFC’s lightweight division.

Dan Hooker is preparing for a quick turnaround when he returns this weekend at UFC 325 in Sydney.

While ‘The Hangman’ is back in another eye-catching contest, his matchup with Benoit Saint-Denis isn’t the only big clash at 155 pounds that will take place this month January.

Hooker told Paddy Pimblett that it’s “on site” between them following some controversial comments that were exchanged between the two men.

Following the outcome of the interim lightweight title fight this past weekend, many questioned whether a clash between them could be next.

Dan Hooker doesn’t want to ‘shoot himself in the foot’ by chasing after Paddy Pimblett

The feud between Paddy Pimblett and Dan Hooker isn’t going away anytime soon, which isn’t surprising considering what was said between them.

On January 24, ‘The Baddy’ suffered his first loss inside the Octagon when he was beaten by Justin Gaethje over five rounds.

Pimblett’s new rivalry with ‘The Hangman’ would surely make for a huge bounce-back matchup for the Brit if the right cards fall into place.

Hooker reinforced his “on site” claim during an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, saying that if they meet in person there’d be no room for communication.

“What’s there to talk about? That goes for anyone,” he said. “Anyone says that to me, anyone makes a comment like that towards me, I’ll kick your head in.”

Despite this, the 23-fight UFC veteran said that he didn’t get any pleasure from watching Pimblett lose to Gaethje and surprisingly said that he won’t pursue a matchup with him after UFC 325.

“That’s the dumbest thing you can possibly do,” Hooker said about chasing a fight with Pimblett. “He p—– me off, I p—– him off back. That’s always going to be there but that’s why I had to p— him off back so then I’m not just sitting around and I’m upset about it. He’s gonna take some time off, we’ll see how this fight plays out obviously. I’m not gonna go back and shoot myself in the foot because I’m mad.”

Dan Hooker has his eye on a couple of other big fights at lightweight

Dan Hooker doesn’t want to fight Paddy Pimblett just because there’s now some bad blood between them.

‘The Hangman’ suggested several other options during his appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show that could be next for him with a win at UFC 325.

“There’s some big fights,” he said. “There’s obviously the BMF [title fight] and brother, I guarantee you between me getting through this fight and getting my hand raised against BSD [Benoit Saint-Denis], there’s still no one between me and Arman [Tsarukyan] that wants to fight him except me. I feel bad, I like Arman now. He’s won me over as a fan.”

A BMF title fight would certainly be a big matchup for Hooker, though there’s no denying that a clash with Pimblett in 2026 would be a highly anticipated showdown.