UFC's generous offer: Kiwi star Dan Hooker set up for life in Vegas

Dan Hooker proudly flies the New Zealand flag after a UFC win. Photo / Getty Images.

Kiwi UFC star Dan Hooker will call Las Vegas home for the foreseeable future, with the promotion setting him and his family up with a place to live in Vegas while he is unable to return to New Zealand.

Hooker recently accepted a short-notice bout against No5-ranked Islam Makhachev for UFC 267 in Abu Dhabi at the end of the month, deciding to forgo his planned return to New Zealand last week in order to take on more work.

The 31-year-old flew out to Vegas late last month for his bout against Nasrat Haqparast at UFC 266, which he won by unanimous decision, and was due to enter MIQ last weekend. However, with the opportunity against Makhachev arising, Hooker opted to take on the fight which shapes up as a title eliminator.

Because he will be unable to get back into New Zealand until he secures another MIQ voucher, the UFC have agreed to fly his wife and young daughter out to Las Vegas after his upcoming bout, where they will call home until things open up back home.

"If I offered you a free trip to live in Las Vegas, I don't think you'd turn it down," Hooker said.

"Of course, I don't expect them to pay my rent forever. I doubt that's something they want to do. But we'll see. It's hard to judge; there's not much point in coming back to lockdown.

"I want to train. I need to train. That's the main thing – I need to train and I need to be able to travel. As long as that is hampered, there's not much point coming back to New Zealand. I'll come back to New Zealand as soon as that stuff is sorted out, but I'm sick of complaining, to be honest."

Hooker has been among a large number of New Zealand athletes to recently speak out about their struggles with the MIQ system and how it is impacting their ability to work, as many Kiwi athletes and coaches need to be able to travel overseas for their jobs. Before his last bout, Hooker confirmed several members of the City Kickboxing stable were discussing the logistics of moving offshore in order to ensure they can compete, including several UFC stars such as Israel Adesanya, Kai Kara-France and Brad Riddell, and Professional Fighters League lightweight Genah Fabian, who has been stuck in the States since mid-August.

Being unable to come and go freely means City Kickboxing head coach Eugene Bareman will have to provide assistance from afar for Hooker, as he returned from Vegas last week and is currently observing his two weeks in MIQ and would be unable to get another voucher on short notice.

While Bareman won't be in Hooker's corner, City Kickboxing's boxing coach Doug Viney and heavyweight boxer Hemi Ahio will join renowned wrestling coach Frank Hickman in Abu Dhabi for the bout, as Viney and Ahio are in Dubai for Ahio's WBC Middle East Heavyweight title bout next weekend.

"They're going to come to Fight Island, so I'll have the wrestling and grappling taken care of with Frankie, then Doug can take care of the striking and pad work for fight week, and Hemi Ahio – there ain't no man with more mana than him in the corner."