#5 ranked UFC lightweight Dan Hooker faces his toughest opponent yet in Dustin Poirier. Video / UFC
With the world in the midst of a pandemic and borders closed globally, the UFC have relied on American-based fighters to fill their recent events. But for their card on June 28, UFC boss Dana White and the matchmakers decided there was one man outside of their jurisdiction they needed to get into the country to headline the event.
That man was Dan Hooker.
The Herald can confirm Hooker (20-8) will square off against former interim lightweight champion No 3-ranked Dustin Poirier (25-6) on June 28 (NZ time) in a five-round main event in Las Vegas. While many expected the fight might be booked for Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, the two will meet at the UFC Apex, with Hooker granted a visa to enter the States.
Dan Hooker and City Kickboxing teammate John Vake at the open workouts ahead of UFC Auckland. Photo / Getty Images
"I think it's funny that the matchmakers and Dana White sat down and were like 'alright, we need a main event fighter that we need to fly in on a short notice fight during a global pandemic and fight with a third of a camp and get out there and put on a show', and they all agreed Dan Hooker was the man they need to get," Hooker told the Herald. "I'm going to hold up my side of the bargain, I'll come to fight."
Looking at his track record, it's clear to see why. In his 28 professional fights, only eight have gone to a decision. Hooker has 10 wins by knockout and seven by submission, with one knockout loss and two via submission.
"I feel like I've earned that spot. I feel comfortable in the role as a main event fighter."
Dan Hooker has finished 17 of his 20 professional wins. Photo / Getty Images
It will be Hooker's second main event in as many fights, after he claimed a split decision win over Paul Felder in Auckland in February. The bout will be Poirier's eighth headline spot, and his sixth in a row.
The fight was initially scheduled to headline a card in San Diego in mid-May, but the event was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was a fight all parties wanted to put together, however, and shapes up as a pivotal bout in the wider picture of the lightweight division.
Hooker, now ranked No 5, could put himself into the title picture with a win against Poirier, while Poirier will be looking to stake his claim at another shot at the undisputed championship after falling short in late 2019.
Dustin Poirier is currently ranked No3 in the UFC's lightweight division. Photo / Getty Images
The fight will be Poirier's first since that submission loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov, while Hooker has fought twice since then.
While he stayed active and fit during lockdown, the 30-year-old Kiwi was able to return to the dojo at Auckland's City Kickboxing this week with the country shifting to alert level 1 and begin finetuning his tools ahead of the bout.
He'll be going into the bout with far from a full camp and, while going into a five-round fight with about a month-long camp in a different country during a global pandemic might be something another fighter would turn down, Hooker jumped at the chance to get back to work.
"I'm starting to realise now I'm a little bit different to most people," he said. "It would be harder for me to not do this. It's hard for me to stay away from the gym; it's hard for me to turn fights down – damn near impossible. It would be physically hard, that's not going to make sense to a lot of people, but it would just be physically harder for me to send a message back having a little cry.
"I'll just get out there. I'm lucky enough that I've designed a skillset where I can do that (on short notice) and I'm still dangerous. I can go out there on a day's notice and still be dangerous. When I ball my hands up and throw them at someone, any man in the world is going to be in trouble if it connects.
"Cardio can come later; I've got knockout cardio."
UFC Fight Night: Poirier v Hooker UFC Apex, Las Vegas. June 28 (NZ time)
