Dan Hooker out of UFC Austin fight with Bobby Green

11/22/2023 10:27 AM

A week before he's scheduled to take on Bobby Green at UFC Austin, Dan Hooker announced that an injury has forced him off the Dec. 2 fight card.   

"Sparring yesterday, I caught a bit of a kick.  Went in for an x-ray and she's castlin.  It broke in the same place.  It kind of is what it is," Hooker told Submission Radio.

"I took a risk, it came back a little quicker.  It's all on me.  I rushed to come back.  I wanted to fight.  I knew the risk of coming back quickly.  We rolled the dice and come up snake eyes, baby," Hooker said.  "Just was sparring, just probably one of those things.  I blocked a thousand kicks in the last couple of months and one just hit, one hit on the right spot and just, yeah, it is what it is,"  

Hooker was coming off back-to-back wins and was looking to pick up a third over the rejuvenated Bobby Green.  He last fought in July, defeating Jailin Turner by split decision.  

"I pushed it.  I hurried it along.  I pushed it," Hooker said about the injury.  "It's on me.  I was just hungry, you know what I mean.  It happened again.  It's the double edge sword of being obsessed with something sometimes.  Sometimes you hold it so tight that you crash it."

"I went and met with a surgeon yesterday.  The UFC kind of put that together.  I met with the surgeon, he sent me for a CT scan and I'm going to hear back today about what the actual story is and we'll find out.  He said it's like two things.  It's either broken in the exact same spot. which means just a bone didn't fuse properly.  The bone was never fused properly and it was like inevitable that this was going to happen, or it's a new break.  So, it depends on what it is.  I'll find out today when I know more."

It's unclear whether the fight promotion will look for a late replacement to step in against Green, or remove Green from the UFC Austin fight card altogether.