The Texan did land a strong jab up the middle as Hooker pressed forward, but the Kiwi was able to shake it off and get right back to working his boxing combinations.
Hooker's knockout with the left hand hook came just 30 seconds after narrowly missing the exact same punch twice in quick succession, and was set up with a beautiful overhand right feint to draw Vick's hands away from his chin.
Both fighters came into the bout with losses in their most recent fights, after Hooker was beaten by Edson Barboza and Vick was toppled by Paul Felder.
The Kiwi has now finished 17 of his 19 wins and will likely return to the lightweight rankings later in the week.
Speaking to the Herald before the bout, Hooker said the seven month break had done wonders for him.
"It was kind of a blessing in disguise," he said. "I've never sat on the shelf for seven months before and it's kind of starting all over again. It's completely reset me, I feel like a new fighter after that amount of time."
Sustaining little damage in the bout, Hooker will be well positioned now to fight again in early October at the same event in which City Kickboxing teammate Israel Adesanya will fight for the undisputed middleweight championship.
