Dan Hooker has a habit of facing fighters at the apex of their careers. With the exception of Dustin Poirier, who was fresh off his title fight loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov, every opponent Hooker has faced in the last three years has been coming off at least two wins. In fact, each of the ‘Hangman’’s last three opponents—Claudio Puelles, Arnold Allen, and Islam Makhachev—were running years long winning streaks when they faced off against the City Kickboxing talent.
That makes news of Hooker’s latest fight booking something like business as usual. In an interview with The Mac Life, the 32-year-old announced his next bout, against #10 ranked lightweight Jalin Turner on March 4th.
“I’m fighting Jalin Tuner. Top 10, baby,” Hooker announced. “Obviously, had a couple beers with him about a month ago. Twitter rampage proceeded to follow, as it does. Just fishing with dynamite, really. I think I said that he turned the fight down. And he said, ‘Hey man, I didn’t turn that fight down.’ And I was like, ‘Well, let’s have a fight then.’ And it worked.”
Much like Hooker’s other recent opponents, ‘The Tarantula’ is currently riding a 5-fight win streak, most recently coming off a first round shellacking of Hooker teammate Brad Riddell at UFC 276 last July. That win brought Turner’s MMA record to 13-5 overall, with his last loss coming against Matt Frevola back in 2019.
For Hooker, his knack for taking tough fights hasn’t necessarily always served him well. While fresh off a victory over Claudio Puelles back in November, Hooker had previously lost back-to-back fights against the aforementioned Allen and Makhachev. He’s 12-8 over his 8-year UFC run, with an overall MMA record of 22-12.
Hooker vs. Turner is currently planned for the undercard of UFC 285. The PPV event is set to be headlined by a heavyweight title fight between former light heavyweight champ Jon Jones and former interim heavyweight champ Ciryl Gane.
About the author: Zane Simon is a senior editor, writer and podcaster for Bloody Elbow. Host of the MMA Vivisection and 6th Round, he has covered MMA and the UFC since 2013. (full bio)
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