MMA: Kiwi UFC star Dan Hooker settling in to quarantine after Fight of the Year contender against Dustin Poirier

Dan Hooker and Dustin Poirier put on a show in their UFC main event. Photo / Getty Images

Dan Hooker is in quarantine, but he won't have to wait until his two weeks are up to get back to training.

The Kiwi UFC star is holed up at the Novotel Hotel in Ellerslie for the next week and a half after returning to New Zealand on Monday from his main event bout in Las Vegas.

But although those in quarantine have to observe strict social distancing rules, Hooker has been given permission to train with coaches Mike Angove and Andrei Paulet who were in Hooker's corner in Las Vegas.

"Mike actually asked a few of the nurses and they checked it with the Ministry of Health if we can train together just to stay moving," Hooker explained.

"Because we're all in the same bubble, we're actually allowed to hit some pads and move around with each other."

For the 30-year-old lightweight it was another unexpected bonus of quarantine. Already he had been allowed daily visits from his wife, Isabella, and daughter, Zoe – from a safe two-metre distance.

"It was incredible that I was lucky enough to be in this position so close to home and they were able to come down," Hooker said. "They're coming down every day; it means the world to me."

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Despite a bruising fight against Dustin Poirier last weekend, Hooker said he was ready to get back to work, and being able to do even some form of training was a good place to start.

Poirier and Hooker slugged out a Fight of the Year contender, needing all five rounds to find a winner. The No 3 ranked Poirier claimed a unanimous decision win. Both fighters landed more than 150 significant strikes on the other and the second round of their bout has been hailed by some as the best round of MMA ever.

In that second round, Hooker got the better of the exchanges and with time running out in the round he looked to finish the job with a late flurry. He admitted expending that energy probably cost him in the end, but had no regrets about how the fight played out.

"I felt him going down so I just went all in on my hands," Hooker said of the second round. "I tried to get him out of there, planted my feet and got really aggressive because I felt I clipped him with a few shots, especially after those knees I felt like he wasn't going to come back with anything.

"But that's it, eh. That's a risk I took. I knew it was a risk using all that energy to try to get the finish. If it would have worked out people would be singing a whole different tune, so I can live with that.

"Should I have saved that energy and tried to eke out another round? In hindsight that would have been the smart thing to do. But I don't regret my decision. Trying to get him out of there and put on an exciting show for the fans, it makes me the fighter that I am. It's just my blood boiling a little bit."

Walking away with no broken bones, 10 stitches and two black eyes for his efforts, Hooker said he would be back in the cage before the end of the year, with either No 6 ranked Charles Oliveira or No 3 ranked Tony Ferguson his next opponent.

"I have to wait until I can get back into the gym before I message UFC but I don't see any injuries coming up in the next week and a half.

"So once I get back in the gym I'll let the UFC know that I'm back and ready to jump back into camp and we'll have to work out whether Charles wants it, whether Tony wants it. I feel like either of those fights is a main event. The UFC likes to schedule main events quite far out, they like to have their headliners all booked up so I'll have to see when a main event slot will become available."