Dan Hooker was forced to withdraw from his UFC 313 co-main event bout against Justin Gaethje. The event, headlined by Alex Pereira defending his light heavyweight title against Magomed Ankalaev, takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on March 8.
Hooker (24-12) sustained a hand injury in training, and after getting a CT scan, the New Zealand lightweight was told his hand was fractured. In a video shared by Sky Sport NZ on social media, the 35-year-old Auckland native said, “One of the paws is not doing so well.”
“Just sparring last night as I always do, just letting some hooks go, throwing some bombs down range. And just caught one of the boys off the top of the dome with my knuckle.”
“I didn’t think too much of it, but they sent me off to get a CT scan, and they told me my hand was fractured.”
“As of now… I would obviously still fight. But the medicals, they squeeze your hands. We’ll see how it all plays out.”
“We’ll see if we can kick this fight down the road. We’ll just wait and see.”
“It’s just unfortunate, to be this close. Obviously, gutted for all the fans who I know were excited for this fight. That’s probably the main thing. The lords of war were not happy, and they took it away from you.”
In his previous bout last August, Dan Hooker took a split decision against Mateusz Gamrot and secured his third win in a row.
It is yet to be determined if Justin Gaethje (25-5) remains on the UFC 313 card, facing a replacement opponent. The 36-year-old former interim UFC lightweight champion from Safford, Arizona, hasn’t fought since last April, when he was knocked out by Max Holloway in the final second of the fight and lost his symbolic “BMF” strap.