Chase Hooper punches Steven Peterson on June 12, 2021
Zuffa LLC
Chase Hooper (10-2-1, eight finishes), the fan favourite featherweight who made his 2019 UFC debut three months after his twentieth birthday, makes his first look of 2022 in opposition to Felipe Colares (10-3, seven finishes) throughout Saturday’s UFC Struggle Night time preliminary card from UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The Put up’s Scott Fontana caught up with Hooper by way of Zoom for some Q&A on this week’s Put up Struggle Interview.
Q: Your typical curly hair is now trimmed. Why the change?
A: I simply wished my hair trimmed just a little bit, however with the weight-reduction plan, it didn’t develop out as shortly as I assumed it could. So I simply figured I’d form up the sides and cope with what I’ve received at this level.
Q: How have been you capable of compete in newbie MMA while you have been 17?
A: All my newbie fights, since I used to be underneath 18 for all of them, befell on Native American reservations, like casinos and stuff. It was form of humorous; they'd let me combat, they’d preserve me within the again, I'd exit, I'd combat after which the safety must escort me within the again and regulate me. They wouldn’t let me out on the ground or something. … There actually [weren’t] a ton of guidelines as a result of I couldn’t get a license within the state to combat within the different newbie reveals, so I needed to do it on all these pro-am reveals within the reservations. It was a cool expertise, undoubtedly. No shin pads or something, so just about the identical as the professional guidelines, however simply with no elbows and no knees to the top or something [and] three-minute rounds. However nonetheless, it was a extremely good intro to professional MMA.
Q: Had been your mother and father cool with you preventing at that age?
A: Yeah. I used to be going to do it regardless, and there’s a lot worse issues I might have been doing.
Q: Did children in school know you have been preventing?
A: No, not likely. I didn’t actually discuss to too many individuals. I used to be fairly quiet. I nonetheless am.
Q: You’re one of many few who’s debuted within the UFC at age 20 or youthful. Do you draw any profession inspiration from others who’ve been in your footwear? Guys like Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira who ultimately grew to become champions.
A: Positively. Each of these guys are nice examples. They did a really comparable factor to me, the place they jumped into the deep finish. My debut, I really was on the cardboard with Max for the primary [Alexander] Volkanovski combat. He got here up and approached me and was speaking to me and stuff, and it was tremendous cool. Among the finest featherweights within the sport reaching out and speaking to you and stuff. He’s fairly cool. Been tremendous cool to me ever since. However yeah, I draw a number of inspiration from guys like that, which have performed what I’m attempting to do.
Q: What did Holloway inform you that caught with you?
A: It was simply loopy. Form of a whirlwind. But it surely was loopy that he knew who I used to be. Simply on my first combat; I used to be on the prelims, I used to be [fourth] combat, and he was like, “Oh, hey, what’s up Chase?” He knew who I used to be, and that was actually cool for me. He’s been tremendous supportive. I believe there was some Twitter change the place he mentioned I used to be his favourite featherweight, most likely as a result of he’ll by no means should combat me.
Q: What excites you about this combat in opposition to Colares?
A: It’s such an excellent stylistic matchup. There’s a man that does like combat stats each time [fights] get introduced, and our statistics are so comparable. [We’re] each very jiu-jitsu based mostly. Clearly, I believe I’m gonna be just a little longer, just a little taller, possibly just a little greater. We’ll see. He’s developing from [135 pounds]. It’s enjoyable to search out one other jiu-jitsu man. It’s so laborious to do jiu-jitsu in opposition to somebody that’s attempting to do anti jiu-jitsu. I believe the chance for enjoyable scrambles goes to be fairly excessive. I believe this can be a enjoyable one to observe.
Q: Do you recall your first expertise watching MMA?
A: It needed to have been like one thing with Chuck Liddell headlining. I don’t bear in mind loopy quantities of that as a result of I used to be fairly younger. I used to be most likely, like, 8 once I watched it, however that made me need to get a mohawk. So I went by a part due to previous Chuck. That received me into MMA: “The Iceman” himself.
Q: You possibly can combat any one that has ever lived. Who do you choose?
A: Perhaps a gladiator or someone that did pankration again in historic Greece.
Q: Typical walkaround weight between fights?
A: I’ve been getting fairly large. Puberty is coming alongside, so form of within the [180s] just a little bit. It's what it's. [Moving up to 155 pounds] is unquestionably within the horizons.
Q: Typical weight on combat evening?
A: Hopefully excessive [160s]. We’ll see. I really feel like after I lower weight, I simply am hungry like endlessly. I don’t cease consuming.
Q: Do you might have a fight-day routine earlier than competitors?
A: I simply tried to maintain it tremendous mild. I need to joke round and check out to remove a number of the stress of the state of affairs. My mentality all the time going into fights is like, “Hey, it’s solely quarter-hour,” It’s attempting to not get too stressed through the ready facet of issues and simply realizing that it’s solely quarter-hour of my time. That’s like half of a TV present.
Q: What combat out of your regional scene days ought to followers watch?
A: I don’t know if it’s on the market, but it surely was a combat that received me on “Contender Collection.” I took it on two hours discover in opposition to a veteran, Drew Brokenshire. I used to be [3-0] on the time. It was my [fourth] professional combat. Title combat, went 5 five-minute rounds, and I’d fought [two weeks] earlier than. I received, after which received the decision as much as Contender. That was a loopy combat. It was a brilliant enjoyable one.
Q: Who in MMA do you most admire?
A: I actually admire the fellows like Demian Maia who've that loopy specialist talent set. However I additionally admire the fellows like Max, like Charles Oliveira [who] have put the time in and have actually simply improved a lot since they began, and you'll actually watch their entire development from the start of their profession to now. From being entry stage to world class, it’s loopy cool to observe.
Q: What’s the best approach in fight sports activities?
A: I just like the banana break up. There’s actually nothing like seeing the worry in somebody’s eyes while you’re about to tear their groin in half. That will get individuals to faucet, for certain.
Q: Is there an awesome MMA film?
A: If there's, I haven’t seen it but. I really feel like all of them do it form of tacky.
Q: Favourite film?
A: “Pulp Fiction.”
Q: Favourite outside exercise?
A: I’ve been getting actually into snowboarding the previous yr or two. That’s been an awesome cross coaching sort of factor.
Q: Favourite online game?
A: I’ve been taking part in a number of “Escape from Tarkov” not too long ago. I’m actually having fun with throwing that one up on Twitch.
Q: What’s an ideal day for you that doesn’t contain preventing?
A: That’s laborious. I assume it’d should be one of many trip days I take down in Mexico or one thing. Spend a while on the seashore. Go stroll round city. Meals’s been an enormous factor for me, and I all the time love all of the meals down in Mexico.
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