Dan Hooker says the UFC wanted him to serve as the official backup fighter for the BMF title bout between Dustin Poirier and Max Holloway at UFC 318 — but a lingering injury forced him to pass on the chance.
Why Dan Hooker Turned Down Backup Role for Poirier vs. Holloway at UFC 318
Poirier is set to face Holloway in a trilogy fight for the BMF title at UFC 318. The July 19 event will take place at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, in front of Poirier’s home crowd. He’s already confirmed this will be his final appearance in the Octagon.
In a recent interview with Sky Sports NZ, Hooker revealed the UFC had approached him about backing up the fight. He said the promotion planned to book him against another lightweight on the UFC 318 card, with the idea that he could step in for either Poirier or Holloway if needed.
“I did know that this fight was going down for a long time because they wanted me to back up for this fight,” Hooker said. “They wanted to get me another lightweight, just fight any old lightweight on the card. And then any one of these guys got injured, the UFC wanted me to step in and back up for the BMF title.”
Hooker said he had to decline the offer due to a hand injury that still requires surgery.
“So it would have been an incredible opportunity. Unfortunately, I need a second surgery on my hand. There’s too much scar tissue in there … it’s not a major surgery, but they just have to cut it open and clean out some scar tissue that’s kind of locking the joint up.”
The New Zealand native said he’d need a few months of recovery after surgery, which made the timing for UFC 318 too tight.
“But that would only put me like nine 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 is going to happen.”
Hooker was originally set to face Justin Gaethje in the co-main event of UFC 312 back in February but withdrew weeks before the fight due to the same hand issue.
While the timing didn’t work out, Hooker’s willingness to step in shows he’s still game for big moments. Once his hand heals, expect “The Hangman” to be back in the mix, ready to take on top contenders. For now, all eyes turn to Poirier vs. Holloway at UFC 318.