Dan Hooker calls out top contender for UFC 317 fight after showing off gruesome hand injury
03/06/2025 04:51 AM
‘The Hangman’ is on the mend and he’s already got a target date and opponent for his return to the Octagon later this year.
In just a few days, fight fans should have been watching Dan Hooker make the walk to face Justin Gaethje in an absolute war at UFC 313.
The mixed martial arts gods were promised violence in the co-main event but unfortunately, plans fell apart when Hooker withdrew from the fight due to an injured hand.
It will now be Rafael Fiziev who will take on Gaethje in Las Vegas on March 8 in a rematch of their incredible clash at UFC 286 two years ago.
As for the injured New Zealander, Hooker already has UFC 317 in mind for his next outing and it didn’t take him long to identify a potential opponent.
Dan Hooker shares image of injured hand and calls out Arman Tsarukyan for UFC 317
Dan Hooker has had some significant injury issues throughout his career but he’s also not the kind of fighter who is bothered by a few bumps and scratches.
With fight night at the T-Mobile Arena only a few sleeps away, ‘The Hangman’ shared the following grizzly photo of his hand following the surgery.
In a recent appearance on Sky Sports New Zealand’s UFC show, Hooker spoke about what is next for him now that the recovery process is underway.
When the news came out that he had withdrawn from the fight, one fellow lightweight contender was quick to criticize.
Arman Tsarukyan also missed out on a massive contest due to an injury when he pulled out of the main event of UFC 311 and his rematch with 155-pound champion Islam Makhachev the day before it was scheduled to take place in January.
There has always been tension between Tsarukyan and Hooker which ‘The Hangman’ addressed in a recent clip where he revealed that he wants to fight the top contender at UFC 317 on June 28.
Not for the first time, Hooker made multiple references to Tsarukyan’s video with Nina Drama on UFC 311 fight week.
“He come at me this week but yeah, if you go back, he does an interview with Nina Drama where he’s actually creeping on her, like it’s weird and a lot of people don’t know that her husband is the camera man as well which makes it even more creepy. You think just cuz your dad is rich and you’re a UFC fighter, this woman is gonna cheat on her husband in front of you?
“Like, this kid is unreal bro but, another loss for him. I’d like to fight him when I come back, International Fight Week, I’ll kick Arman right in the monobrow. He waxes it, we all know that. Let it grow out son.”
Dan Hooker could be several chess moves ahead right now
Knowing Dan Hooker and the kind of fighter that he is, he seemingly doesn’t like Arman Tsarukyan and would therefore like to fight him.
However, from a strategic point of view, this is a really good move from ‘The Hangman’ to capitalize on the feud between them in order to put himself in a position to fight the top contender in the division who has still not received his title shot.
The Justin Gaethje fight may have been more appealing to the fans but ‘The Highlight’ is lower ranked, coming off of a loss and as Hooker acknowledged in the build-up to the fight, would put him through hell over 25 minutes.
Tsarukyan may even be a tougher fight for Hooker but the stakes are higher and the likelihood of taking career-defining damage would appear to be much lower than the fight of the year contender that everyone was expecting on March 8.
