Justin Gaethje and Dan Hooker have two very different perspectives on what to do next after their fight was cancelled.
Hooker suffered a fracture to his hand in sparring for the fight which has left him unable to fight in what was due to be the UFC 313 co-main event. Despite the fact that Alex Pereira is the headliner, Gaethje vs Hooker had been expected to be the most exciting fight of the night in Las Vegas.
Now, though, Gaethje is looking for a new opponent after being called out by the likes of Renato Moicano and Rafael Fiziev, whom he already defeated in 2023.
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Justin Gaethje breaks his silence on UFC 313 cancellation
Justin Gaethje was not quick to comment on news that his fight with Hooker would be cancelled, which was announced overnight for Americans. The New Zealander even underwent regular media duties including an interview with New York Post before receiving word that the fight was off.
And Gaethje, who as recently as last night had been posting videos and pictures from his training camp, insists that he will be staying on the UFC 313 fight card. He took to Snapchat to share a brief message which read: “Hooker is out of the fight. Waiting for a new opponent.”
Just two hours ago he was sharing videos of his practice sessions. With a number of top UFC stars such as Moicano calling him out, there are many options to keep him on the fight card in the co-main event slot for next week.
Dan Hooker insists he would still fight Justin Gaethje despite horror injury
Immediately after suffering the injury, Hooker appeared in studio for Sky Sport NZ, where he regularly appears as a pundit. He showed off the severity of his fracture, but claimed that he would even be willing to wear different sizes of gloves if it meant keeping the fight on.
“One of the paws is not doing so well,” he told Ravinder Hunia during their show, before explaining exactly what had caused the drastic swelling. “So sparring last night, as I do, just letting some hooks go I was throwing some bombs down range and caught one of the boys on the dome with my knuckle.
“I didn’t think too much of it but they sent me off to get a CT scan, had a little CT scan and they told me that my hand is fractured.”
He was willing to continue to fight, but noted that medicals may be difficult as they take a look at his hands. “I obviously still would fight,” he insisted But with the medicals when they squeeze your hands I’d just be there like [cringeing in pain]. We’ll see how it all plays out.”
When Hunia joked that he may not fit into the gloves by the time he gets to Las Vegas he might have needed two different sizes. “I’ll be like ‘can I have one large glove and one 3XL please?’ They’ll be like ‘what?'”
Justin Gaethje and Dan Hooker have different ideas about what is happening after UFC 313 cancellation
While Gaethje seems eager to get rebooked against a new opponent, Hooker was hopeful that the fight may just be arranged for a different date. It’s unclear how long his recovery period will be, but he seemed particularly upset at the idea of losing such a high-profile bout and letting down fans.
“We’ll see if we can kick this fight down the road,” he said in a more sombre tone. “We’ll just wait and see, baby. “It’s just unfortunate that it was this close.
“Obviously I’m gutted for all the fans that I know were excited for this fight. That’s probably the main thing, just the lords of war were not happy and they took it away from you.”