Popular UFC lightweight Dan ‘The Hangman’ Hooker is on the road to recovery after undergoing surgery on the injury that sadly forced him out of UFC 313.
‘The Hangman’ was originally meant to face ‘The Highlight’ in the co-main event of this weekend’s PPV out in Las Vegas; headlined by Alex Pereira vs Magomed Ankalaev.
Unfortunately, the popular New Zealander suffered a painful injury in training that sadly forced him out of his all-violence UFC 313 showcase – the good news is that he’s now on the road to recovery.
Dan Hooker undergoes surgery after being sidelined with injury
Last week, in a VLOG posted by Dan Hooker’s daughter Zoe to YouTube, the UFC veteran confirmed that he had “busted his paw” in training, i.e., suffered a fracture to his left hand.
“One of the paws is not doing so well,” Hooker later explained to Sky Sport NZ, showing off his severely swollen hand to the cameras.
“I was sparring last night, as I do, just letting some hooks go, just throwing some bombs down range and caught one of the boys on the dome with my knuckle… Had a little CT scan and they told me that my hand is fractured.”
“I obviously still would fight [if they’d let me],” laughed the promotional veteran, who has since confirmed that he’s already undergone surgery to correct the fracture.
In an Instagram post shared yesterday morning, Hooker can be seen in a hospital bed with his hand wrapped up in a thick brace and the caption “BRB” – so when will ‘The Hangman’ be ready to return?
“Justin Gaethje is probably not going to wait that long,” Hooker admitted in the Sky Sport NZ interview, before revealing that the plan is to step back into the UFC octagon on International Fight Week.
“That’s June, back in Las Vegas, so that’s not too far away… I was expecting to take some pretty hefty damage in this fight and be recovering for quite a while [anyway].
“So, by the time International Fight Week comes around, it’s just a small fracture in my hand and we’ll get it sorted ASAP and be back in there in no time.”
Justin Gaethje stays on UFC 313 card as ‘Ataman’ steps in on short notice
The one piece of good news that came from Hooker’s injury woes is that Justin Gaethje will retain his spot on UFC 313 – and will now take on Rafael ‘Ataman’ Fiziev in a three-round co-main event.
Both athletes will be looking to get back in the win column; having dropped results in their last respective fights to Mateusz Gamrot (def. Fiziev via TKO) and Max Holloway (def. Gaethje via KO).
UFC 313 will be the second time that Gaethje and Fiziev have locked horns inside the octagon, with ‘The Highlight’ having barely squeaked past the Azeri at UFC 286 in March 2023.
Whilst it’s a shame that we’re not getting the Hooker vs Gaethje fight as expected; the incoming Fiziev rematch is a solid replacement for this new-look UFC 313 main card.
- Alex Pereira vs Magomed Ankalaev (LHW title bout)
- Justin Gaethje vs Rafael Fiziev
- Jalin Turner vs Ignacio Bahamondes
- Amanda Lemos vs Iasmin Lucindo
- King Green vs Mauricio Ruffy
UFC 313: Pereira vs Ankalaev goes down live from Las Vegas on Saturday, March 8.