Chase Hooper vs. Chris Padilla Reported for UFC 335 in Las Vegas

Chase Hooper and Chris Padilla are being lined up for a lightweight fight at UFC 335 on December 12 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

MMA Junkie reported the pairing Thursday, citing two people with knowledge of the booking. Those sources spoke anonymously because the UFC has not announced the fight. Connected MMA was credited with the first report, while Heavy also reported the matchup in October.

There is one important qualifier. When FightPulse checked the UFC's official event page Thursday morning, Hooper vs. Padilla was not listed on the published card. The page confirms the date, venue and Charles Oliveira vs. Diego Lopes main event, but the lightweight bout remains a reported booking rather than an official UFC announcement. Fight cards can change before contracts and promotion materials are finalized.

Hooper is trying to build on a needed win

Hooper, 27, owns a 17-5-1 professional record and a 9-5 mark in the UFC. His July submission of Mitch Ramirez stopped a two-fight slide after first-round knockout losses to Alexander Hernandez and Lance Gibson Jr. Hooper missed the lightweight limit for the Ramirez bout, then finished it with a rear-naked choke at 2:15 of the opening round.

The UFC lists nine submission victories on Hooper's record and an average of 2.16 submission attempts per 15 minutes. His best work still comes when a fight becomes messy enough for him to climb onto the back, attack a limb or force a scramble. The question against Padilla is whether he can create those exchanges without spending too long at kickboxing range.

Padilla has not lost in the UFC

Padilla, 31, is 18-6-1 overall and 5-0-1 in six UFC appearances. His current nine-fight unbeaten run includes finishes of James Llontop, Rongzhu, Ismael Bonfim and Nasrat Haqparast. Against Haqparast in August, Padilla secured an arm-triangle technical submission at 4:59 of the third round.

That result matters here. Padilla is often treated as the striker in a grappler-versus-striker matchup, but he has six career submissions and has shown he can finish after a long, competitive fight. The UFC's statistics also give him an 83 percent takedown defense rate through his first six Octagon appearances.

A hard matchup to simplify

Hooper's path is easy to describe and difficult to execute: get past Padilla's pressure, tie him up and turn one scramble into sustained control. Padilla can make that expensive. He lands 6.67 significant strikes per minute according to the UFC, and he has enough submission offense to punish a rushed entry or a bad position on the mat.

Neither man is ranked, but the booking would give Padilla his most recognizable UFC opponent and give Hooper a chance to steady a run that has swung sharply over the past 15 months. Until the promotion adds the fight to its official card, though, it should be treated as reported.