In the final fight of his career, Dustin Poirier will face Max Holloway for a third time in the main event of UFC 318 in New Orleans.
They first met back at UFC 143 where Poirier submitted Holloway before the two legends ran it back in an incredible five-round war at UFC 236 in 2019.
‘The Diamond’ has previously stated that the likes of Justin Gaethje and Ilia Topuria were the two names that he had in mind for his last dance.
Another fan favorite lightweight that the Louisiana native has history with has now revealed that the UFC planned to have him compete on the same night so that he could step into the main event if needed.
- READ MORE: Eddie Hall admits he’s already signed contract for next fight as he reveals likely MMA return date
Dan Hooker reveals surgery that will likely prevent him from being the UFC 318 backup fighter
A lot of fight fans were happy to see the trilogy fight between Dustin Poirier and Max Holloway come together for several reasons.
Not only are they two of the most exciting fighters on the roster, it’s a perfect way for ‘The Diamond’ to ride off into the sunset after competing against a fellow legend in front of his home crowd.
However, the UFC had already taken precautions just in case anything happened to either of the two men involved in the UFC 318 main event by attempting to put plans in place for a backup fighter.
Dan Hooker was set to face Justin Gaethje at UFC 313 in March until a hand injury forced ‘The Hangman’ out of the five-round co-main event.
The 35-year-old stated after the injury that he was hoping to return in the summer with UFC 317 on International Fight Week being a potential destination.
During a recent appearance on Sky Sports New Zealand, Hooker revealed that the promotion had contacted him about getting booked for July 19 so that he could be the backup fighter.
“I did know that this fight was going down for a long time because they wanted me to backup for this fight. They wanted to get me another lightweight, just fight any old lightweight on the card and if either of these guys got injured, the UFC wanted me to step in and backup for the BMF title.”
Hooker went on to say that due to the need for another surgery, it looks unlikely that he will be able to make this date so the UFC may choose to go in another direction.
“So it would’ve been an incredible opportunity. Unfortunately I need a second surgery on my hand, there’s too much scar tissue… it’s not a major surgery, they just need to cut it open and clean out some scar tissue. That would put me 9 weeks before this fight, so it would take kind of a perfect storm for me to be able to be ready by then so it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.”
Dan Hooker would’ve been the perfect replacement fighter for UFC 318
Dan Hooker being the backup fighter for UFC 318 makes perfect sense even if a matchup between him and either Dustin Poirier or Max Holloway isn’t as big as the trilogy we’re getting.
Hooker and Poirier put on an instant classic back in June of 2020 and somehow, we’ve never seen ‘The Hangman’ take on Holloway.
He certainly fits the BMF credentials and there aren’t many names that will be able to fill this replacement role because of how specific this fight is.
Justin Gaethje would be another strong choice but in the event that Poirier gets injured, fans might not clamor towards the prospect of seeing Holloway face ‘The Highlight’ for a second time following his dominant win over the former BMF champion at UFC 300.