Kiwi UFC lightweight contender Dan Hooker has been around the game long enough to recognise a golden opportunity when it comes knocking.
While others in the division hesitated to taking on three-time Bellator world champion Michael Chandler for fear of sullying their ranking against the promotional debutant, 'The Hangman' leapt at the chance to lay out the most inhospitable of welcome mats at UFC 257 in Abu Dhabi.
Recent comments from lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov that he's looking for a fighter to tempt him out of retirement one final time have only increased those stakes.
Add to that mix the pressure of raising the curtain for the UFC's biggest and most transcendent superstar - Conor McGregor - and sixth-ranked Hooker is faced with a potentially career-defining moment on 'Fight Island' this Sunday.
Be it the McGregor sweepstakes or the Khabib lottery, another eye-catching outing would see him cut near the front of the queue to face either.
"The guys above me - the Charles Oliveiras and the Justin Gaethjes - are only not here because they didn't want to take the risk," Hooker says. "I'm the guy who stepped up.
"I heard they were trying to get those fights done for this card and they didn't accept the fight. I took the challenge, I took the risk, that means that I get their reward.
"Look at the history of the sport - the man who takes the risk gets the reward. I'm here, I'm taking the risk, I definitely feel like my name will be back in the title conversation with a win here.
"Depending on how impressive that is - with Khabib's comments and with McGregor in the main event - you could definitely put yourself right back in the mix.
"I could be one first-round knee KO away from getting that shot."
Hooker has felt the magnitude of the occasion since he stepped off the plane, largely due to the unique buzz that surrounds the enigmatic McGregor, whose rematch with Dustin Poirier is the marquee act.
Over the past 18 months, he's been involved in some high-profile fights, outclassing Al Iaquinta in front of a record-breaking crowd of more than 57,000 at Melbourne's Marvel Stadium and headlining an event in a Fight of the Year-contending clash with Paul Felder in front of a raucous Auckland home crowd.
Only a smattering of fans will attend Etihad Arena on Sunday, but this will undoubtedly be Hooker's biggest opportunity yet.
"This is huge," says Hooker. "I can definitely feel it.
“You feel it from the attention it's getting, there's an energy on the Fight Island around our card.
"Just being on a McGregor card, the build-up to it just has kind of a feeling that I've never felt around any other card.
"The interest, the excitement, the hype of the main event...me getting to welcome Michael Chandler to the UFC.
"It's the biggest fight, the biggest opportunity and the biggest show that I've ever been in."
The Irishman aside, Chandler's hugely anticipated promotional debut is the kind of drawcard worthy of main-event status.
Long touted as one of the world's best fighters never to have competed in the UFC, there's enormous interest in whether the 34-year-old American can justify his hype.
"The reality is I'm just as excited as the fans to see where he stands," Hooker says. "Let's see if he's as good as people say he is."
Hooker confesses he was largely unfamiliar with Chandler's body of work, until the fight proposition came his way.
But after diving into the American's back catalogue, he understands why UFC boss Dana White is so eager to bring him into the fold.
"He's a huge test, a huge challenge," says Hooker. "I was taking some shots at him early on, when he got called in as a back-up spot for the main event.
“I was calling him a fitness model and all sorts, because I genuinely hadn't watched him fight.
"Once they approached me about this fight and I started delving into his career, I would put him up there with the best, and I can feel the excitement and hype about him coming into the UFC is definitely warranted. He deserves to be in an opportunity like this."
The former NCAA All American wrestler's game is founded on his high-pressure grappling, which he complements with vicious ground-and-pound and slick submission skills.
Much like Hooker, he's forged a reputation for show-stealing scraps, which bodes well for fans, come the weekend.
Each fighter's resume suggests the 21-5 Chandler's quality of opposition pales compared to the Aucklander’s, who enters the bout as a deserved betting favourite.
"Stylistically, I think it matches up well - a guy that is a lot shorter than me. He's going to come to me - I don't have to chase him down - and he's going to shoot for takedowns.
"To be honest, that is what my game is built around - shorter guys trying to take me down. That's something that I've been dealing with since very early on in my career and I feel like those fighters bring out the best in me."
Coming off his relatively late-notice bout against Poirier in June - an instant classic he lost via decision - Hooker has been afforded the luxury of a full, eight-week fight camp at Auckland's world-renowned City Kickboxing, grinding right through the festive season to ensure his tools are as sharp as possible.
He will be without head trainer Eugene Bareman, who - after undergoing three mandatory 14-day quarantine periods in New Zealand over the past two months - needs to bide his time back home to help Junior Fa prepare for his heavyweight boxing clash with Joseph Parker on February 27.
The next morning, he departs for Las Vegas with Israel Adesanya for his UFC light-heavyweight title bid on March 7.
Instead, Hooker’s corner team will be led by former Tiger Muay Thai coach and seasoned grappling expert George Hickman, but believes all the hard work has already been done.
"My camp has been incredible,” he says. “I'm so confident in that, I feel like I'll be fine.
"The gameplan has been drilled into the back of my eyeballs. Because of the stylistic matchup, there's not a lot of new tools I need to reach into the bag for.
"I feel like a lot of the tried-and-true tested aspects of my game will perform very well against a guy like Chandler."
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