3 key questions ahead of UFC Fight Night: Poirier vs. Hooker

Lightweight contenders Dustin Poirier and Dan Hooker will face off in Saturday's UFC Fight Night headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Here are three key questions heading into the event.

Will Poirier be too much for Hooker?

The main event no doubt looks competitive on paper. But it's also a significant step up for Hooker, and it could prove to be too much of a test.

Poirier, a former interim champion, could make the case he's the second-best lightweight on the planet. He beat current interim titleholder Justin Gaethje in 2018, and Poirier's only loss in nearly four years came against champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, who's the UFC's No. 2-ranked pound-for-pound fighter and undefeated at 28-0.

"The Diamond" has defeated some incredibly tough competition, including then-featherweight champ Max Holloway and ex-lightweight titleholders Eddie Alvarez and Anthony Pettis.

Hooker, meanwhile, is a rising contender in the division. He's won his past three fights and is 7-1 since moving up to lightweight in 2017. While his recent streak has been impressive, he hasn't fought the same level of competition, and Hooker has struggled against lesser foes.

In his last fight, the New Zealander barely beat Paul Felder in a "Fight of the Year" candidate. His stock didn't go down after that performance because it was such an entertaining bout, but it showed he's definitely not untouchable - figuratively and literally.

Felder, a longtime contender who's never quite reached the title-shot conversation, battered Hooker over five rounds, with his opponent returning the punishment. Poirier hits even harder than Felder, is more technically sound, and can take a punch or two himself. Going up against the former interim champ could mean Hooker is biting off more than he can chew.

Who does the UFC want to win?

Hooker winning would be best for the promotion, since he's a fresh face in the 155-pound division. Poirier lost in one-sided fashion to Nurmagomedov not even a year ago during his title shot, and Hooker has never challenged for the belt.

If the 30-year-old beat Poirier, he'd be a win away from a title shot at the very most - and if lightweight wasn't as stacked, that caliber of victory would usually put someone into a title fight right away. As long as Nurmagomedov is the champion, Poirier won't be getting another shot soon, even if he walks away from Saturday's clash with a win. So the 31-year-old beating Hooker would essentially eliminate a contender.

The UFC doesn't have an urgent need for more contenders, as lightweight is arguably the promotion's best division. But if Nurmagomedov continues to dominate, that list of contenders will get shorter, potentially allowing Hooker to step up.

Additionally, the Australian and New Zealand markets have proven to be quite lucrative for the UFC. That region is already home to two current UFC champions, Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski, and adding Hooker as a legitimate contender would only increase the promotion's success on that side of the globe.

Hooker's fight against Felder served as a headliner in Auckland earlier this year, and main events featuring him would be more consistent if he beats Poirier - and especially if he somehow dethroned Nurmagomedov to become champion.

Is Perry setting himself up for disaster?

After "Platinum" Mike Perry rattled off four knockout wins in his first five Octagon appearances, he seemed like a contender in the making. His captivating personality helped.

Since then, though, he's won two fights and lost five, and Perry is hanging on to his UFC career by a thread while riding a two-fight skid.

Perry will look to rebound this weekend in a welterweight bout against grappler Mickey Gall, and he's the biggest favorite on the card at -310. But he doesn't seem to be setting himself up for success and is instead doing the opposite.

Perry said in a May interview that he's no longer part of a gym and doesn't think it's necessary for coaches to train him. Instead, the plan is for Perry's girlfriend to be in his corner on Saturday ... and that's it.

"I'm not listening to any coaches right now," Perry told MMA Junkie's Mike Bohn. "Coaches who are saying things that they ain't gonna go in there and do."

Perry, who's mostly trained at gyms in Florida in the past but has also done a stint at the famed Jackson-Wink MMA Academy in Albuquerque, feels he's never received actual advice from his corner between rounds during fights. The 28-year-old said all he needs his corner to do is "pass me the bottle of water."

I'm no expert in MMA training and workout strategies, but that doesn't sound smart. Who will help Perry with his weight cut? What about his warmup in the back before the fight against Gall? Could he be wrong about the lack of advice between rounds, and regret his decision while sitting on the stool with only his girlfriend by his side?

Perry has been a pro since 2014, so it's not as if he'll forget every technique taught to him. He won't look like an amateur. It won't be too surprising if he beats Gall, because he should beat Gall.

But there's a reason virtually every high-level MMA fighter trains under a head coach. And without one, Perry might be in trouble.