Following the recent news of Dan Hooker’s withdrawal from UFC 313, Arman Tsarukyan has got his own back on the lightweight contender.
In just over a week, Dan Hooker was scheduled to take on Justin Gaethje at UFC 313, in what was guaranteed to be a Fight of the Year contender.
Unfortunately, earlier this week, Hooker revealed a hand injury has ruled him out of the co-main event, leaving Gaethje without an opponent.
Despite the event being just over a week away, the promotion’s plan is to keep ‘The Highlight’ on the card, with several lightweight contenders having put their names in the hat to fight Gaethje on short notice.
Arman Tsarukyan fires jab at Dan Hooker following UFC 313 withdrawal
The lightweight division is in a strange position near the top with there being no clear contender following Islam Makhachev‘s title defense at UFC 311.
Makhachev was originally scheduled to finally defend his title against Arman Tsarukyan but Tsarukyan withdrew just a day before the fight due to a back injury.
UFC boss, Dana White went on to reveal that Tsarukyan won’t be given another title shot, leaving the top of the division open for a new contender to earn a shot.
After ‘Ahalkalakets’ withdrew from the UFC 311 main event, Hooker went in on Tsarukyan, questioning how he got injured a day before the biggest fight of his career, bringing up Tsarukyan’s families well documented wealth.
‘The Hangman’s’ comments seemingly sparked a feud and with the Kiwi having now pulled out of his fight, Tsarukyan has gotten his own back on Hooker.
“Karma doesn’t miss. Big mouth, glass hands – maybe just stick to talking instead of fighting,” Tsarukyan stated on X.
Dan Hooker explains how he injured his hand ahead of UFC 313
Although the UFC are looking for late notice replacements for Gaethje, fans are extremely gutted to be missing out on the guaranteed banger between Hooker and ‘The Highlight’.
Speaking to Sky Sport New Zealand, Hooker explained exactly how his hand injury came about, revealing he caught the top of one of his sparring partners’ head.
“I was sparring last night and as I do, just letting some hooks go just throwing some bombs down range and just caught one of the boys on the top of the dome with my knuckle,” Hooker began to explain.
“I didn’t think too much of it and they sent me off to get a CT scan… They told me my hand is fractured and yeah, as of now obviously I still would fight… We’ll see if we can kick this fight down the road,” he continued.