Dan Hooker’s surprising pullout of his UFC 313 co-main event against Justin Gaethje left fans absolutely gutted earlier this week.
When Dan Hooker vs Justin Gaethje was announced as a five-round co-main for UFC 313, fans instantly highlighted it as a Fight of the Year candidate.
Unfortunately, though, earlier this week, Hooker announced a hand injury has ruled him out of the bout, leaving Gaethje without an opponent just over a week out from the fight.
Although March 8 is rapidly approaching, the UFC’s plan is to keep ‘The Highlight’ on the card and they are searching for a late-notice replacement with several lightweight contenders having called out Gaethje.
Paul Felder responds to calls for him to come out of retirement and fight Gaethje
Gaethje has been part of some incredible fights over his UFC tenure, as has ‘Hangman’ Hooker. One fight that sticks in fans’ minds is Hooker’s five-round war against Paul Felder in 2020.
‘The Irish Dragon’ went on to fight once more in the UFC Octagon before turning his attention to commentary and hasn’t fought since.
Despite that, he has never officially announced his retirement and has continuously teased at a potential return for one last fight, which has led to calls for him to come out of his hiatus to fight Gaethje.
“Justin vs Felder would be fire,” UFC welterweight champion, Belal Muhammad stated on X.
“You trying to get me hurt?” Felder hilariously replied to the champion’s suggestion.
Felder’s response suggests he isn’t going to step in on short notice to fight one of the most dangerous fighters on the UFC roster. Although the 40-year-old has stayed in tremendous shape throughout his time away, he is likely far over 155lbs, meaning it would be a rough weight cut for him on short notice.
Who will Justin Gaethje end up fighting at UFC 313?
The former interim title challenger seemingly has a plethora of options despite the event being just over a week away. One contender who has put his name in the hat is Rafael Fiziev.
The explosive striker has been struggling to find a fight over the past few months and has stated he would like a rematch with Gaethje following their war at UFC 286 in London where Gaethje picked up the majority decision win.
Someone else who is also game to step in on late notice is Renato Moicano. The Brazilian is looking to bounce back from his title fight loss to Islam Makhachev back at UFC 311.
However, a lot of fans’ top choice is a trilogy fight between ‘The Highlight’ and Dustin Poirier. Poirier is preparing to take one last fight of his career and he has previously stated that a trilogy fight against Gaethje is his dream retirement fight.