Kiwi UFC lightweight veteran Dan Hooker is no stranger to the bright spotlight, but even he's in awe of the occasion that awaits him at New York City on Sunday (NZ time).
In the ultimate team field trip, 'The Hangman' joins City Kickboxing cohorts Carlos Ulberg, Brad Riddell and Israel Adesanya at one of the biggest pay-per-view cards of the year for UFC 281 at the iconic Madison Square Garden.
Hooker has performed on plenty of huge stages during his 13-year professional mixed martial arts career, most notably at UFC 243, where a recordbreaking crowd of more than 57,000 filled Melbourne's Marvel Stadium.
But making that same walk as combat legends Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson before him will provide an unprecedented tick on his bucket list.
"I've been a part of some pretty incredible events," Hooker told Newshub. "This one - head and shoulders - I would have to say, for the team and for myself, is the biggest event of my career."
Sharing the Octagon with Hooker in the opening fight of the main card will be Claudio Puelles, who'll welcome the Aucklander back to lightweight, after a very brief foray at his original UFC class of featherweight.
That flirtation at the 145lb (65.7kg) limit didn't go to plan, resulting in a first-round knockout loss to rapidly rising title contender Arnold Allen on the Englishman's home turf at London.
Ever the pragmatist, Hooker - who's never shied away from taking a risk - insists that was just a case of throwing a dart that didn't quite hit the board, as he sought to take advantage of a featherweight division lacking clearcut title contenders, knowing full well his optimal fighting weight.
"I think I was pretty clear I was positioning myself for a title shot," he said. "I saw that division stalling, which it has, so I was kind on the money.
"It just didn't play out how I intended it to. It's a risk-reward game, but if we're talking about longevity and the weight I perform best at, that's definitely 155[lb].
"I saw an opportunity, we're in the sport of risk v risk reward - if you take big risks, you get the rewards in this game."
Back to the division that has provided his most memorable moments inside the Octagon, Hooker, 32, now begins the task of re-establishing himself at lightweight.
That won't be a case of returning to a bookmark, but an entirely new chapter, Hooker noted.
The past two years have been challenging for Hooker, whose September 2021 win over Nasrat Haqparast was the only time he's had his hand raised in five fights, dating back to June 2020. That stretch has seen him slip from as high as fourth in the official rankings down to No.12.
Rejuvenated from an eight-month 'break' - the longest he's ever taken between fights - Hooker is adamant he's the most dangerous he's ever been.
"I feel like it's a complete fresh start. I feel like it's a complete reset.
"The time I've taken and the improvements I've made, not only in my actual martial arts game, but my mental approach - my mental approach to fighting, my mental approach to training - I feel like all of that is very reinvigorated.
"I'm just excited to get out there and perform at my best, really. I feel like it's a fresh debut and I feel like I'm the best version of myself to date."
One massive boost for Hooker this weekend will be having Eugene Bareman back in his corner, after his trainer and mentor was unable to travel with him for his past two fights.
He's also offloaded the burden of the outer-Octagon responsibilities that come with being a UFC fighter to Bareman and his management team, allowing him to focus completely on his key job description - improving as a fighter.
"It's huge," said Hooker of having Bareman and his wider team by his side. "It's everything.
"It's not something that you can truly appreciate, until you're doing without it.
"You can't even compare this last camp to being around your coaches. My team is absolutely everything, I can't do it without my team.
"I can't do it without these people around me, advising me and helping me get where I need to go.
"When it comes to moving forward and fixing problems, it's about putting the right people in the right places and trusting my team to make the correct decisions for me, which I have.
"Now, when I show up to the gym every day, I just show up as a fighter. I don't have any other hats on now.
"I just show up, I just train and fight. There's just a new level of focus."
To snap his two-fight skid, Hooker needs to find a way past Peruvian Puelles, who has won all five of his official UFC bouts, forging a reputation as a lethal practitioner of the knee bar - one of the most injury-inducing submissions grappling has to offer.
'The Prince of Peru' has used the move to finish three of his five opponents, most recently forcing veteran Clay Guida to tap in a performance-of-the-night display in April.
Hooker acknowledges the calls for him to retire after consecutive first-round defeats, one of which came against newly crowned lightweight champion Islam Makachev.
He's also experienced enough to know how to process those external doubts and avoid becoming caught in a vicious cycle of self-perpetuating doubt that has got the better of many colleagues over the years.
As far as Hooker is concerned, he's only just hitting his prime and his best performances are still ahead of him, with plenty of highlights left to add to his extensive reel.
"Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, I just don't take it on board," he said. "If you focus on those kinds of things, you legitimately get stuck chasing your tail and going around in circles.
"If you take those ideas on board, then you get stuck in that cycle and they become true. I'm not focussed on that, focussed on my future.
"I've just focussed on getting better, getting better in the gym, reinvesting in my team, reinvigorating.
"It's not like I block those things out - I take all of these things on board. I process those emotions and I work through them.
"I legitimately have processed all of those things and I don't feel that way.
"Obviously, after some losses, some questions started to get asked and I'm happy to answer those questions. I'm happy to prove where I belong in the division, which is fighting the best guys.
"That's where I actually feel I belong."
Join us at 2pm, Sunday for live updates of UFC 281: Adesanya v Pereira
