In a vlog posted by Dan Hooker’s daughter, ‘The Hangman’ stated, “We took a little break—we’ve been busy. Dad was gearing up for a fight, but I’ve gone and busted my paw.” Alongside Zoe, the veteran lightweight sent the world of mixed martial arts into a spiral of concern and disappointment, as he was forced to pull out of his fight against Justin Gaethje at UFC 313. If we know something about Hooker, then it is that the man has a habit of pushing through discomfort. Yeah, yeah, that does make him a fighter! But at the cost of his hand?
Well, he fractured his right hand about 2 weeks prior to UFC 313, which he initially didn’t mind. However, things were worsening for ‘The Hangman’. To be fair, Hooker already knew that his bout against Gaethje wouldn’t really be a walk on roses. During an interview with ESPN Australia, he admitted, “I know full well, 100 percent that no matter whether his arm gets raised, my arm gets raised, I’m going straight on a stretcher.” But when he downplayed the severity of his injury, he did more damage to his fractured hand, which was swollen up like a balloon by that point.
And to repair it, he needed to undergo surgery. Such injuries need implants and that’s exactly what Hooker got. But the problem continued to grow. Apparently, there was a buildup of excessive scar tissue, which restricted movement. And so, the 155lbs contender needed one more surgery to remove the excessive scar tissue and open up the locks on his joints. Thankfully, the second surgery was a success.
He shared a story on Instagram and quoted, “I just had a second-hand surgery today. Nothing major, I just had too much scar tissue in the joints, so they just went in there and just like cleaned it out. It was pretty freaky, they kept me awake for the first half of the surgery, and I remember kinda coming to. There was the curtain, then I pulled the curtain down, had a look, and I was watching them do it.”
But for the second half of the procedure, he had to get knocked out. You see, even though the second surgery wasn’t as invasive as the first, he could still see the screws and plates embedded in his bones. The gore combined with a slight discomfort and pain pushed Hooker to get administered with some anesthesia. He continued, “They were cutting into my hand you could see the screws and stuff. I was awake for a bit, then I was like, nah, this kinda hurts now [laughing]. Then they knocked me out for the second half of it. But all good, sweet as, I’ll be back to it in no time.”
And now, on 13 May 2025, ‘The Hangman’ provided the update that every single fight fan was anticipating. Taking to Instagram, he shared a few visuals that showed how far his swelling had gone down. In the caption, he wrote, “Surgery was a success, we back in business baby. Massive thank you to surgeon Clayton Brown for fixing the paw. God must have ran out of jellybeans when he was putting me together, just a scratch.”
Soon after Hooker made it clear that his hand was alright, the fighting community began to call for his return. Of course, ‘The Hangman’ needed a bit more time to heal up. There was still some swelling left, and the wound was recently opened, which would ideally take about a month to heal just enough to let the Kiwi train again. But the fans seemed to want to watch him fight as soon as possible.
Fight fans demand to put Dan Hooker back in the Octagon right after the positive update on his injury
Most of the fans wanted Dan Hooker to fight ‘The Highlight’. After all, it was a fight that the entire world was looking forward to at UFC 313. So, it’s only logical that the UFC runs it up again. One fan weighed in on this and wrote, “Alright, bro, we’re ready for you to fight Justin now.” Another fan backed the notion and wrote, “They need to rebook Dan vs Justin.” But Gaethje wasn’t the only opponent that the fans selected for Hooker.
They also brought Arman Tsarukyan into the picture. One of the fans commented, “Please slump Arman for us, mate.” Nevertheless, the lightweight picture is now moving forward, with Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira set to fight at UFC 317 for the vacant undisputed gold. This was the result of Islam Makhachev’s move to the welterweight division following Jack Della Maddalena’s win at UFC 315.
One of the fans pointed out that Hooker had a pretty good chance at establishing himself in the lightweight ranks and rise above the #6 spot. One such fan reflected on this and wrote, “Now you can beat up Ilia when he’s done with Charles.” Meanwhile, another fan decided to take a subtle dig at Makhachev, who also suffered a hand injury ahead of his fourth title defense at UFC 311. The comment read, “That injury would put Islam out for 3 years.”
Nevertheless, many others knew that Hooker needed rest to heal up and rise again. One of the fans pointed out that the Kiwi’s hand looked a lot better than it did earlier in March. The comment read, “It looks way better. Let’s heal up and get that belt champ.” Another fan added, “Let the recovery begin hangman .”
What are your thoughts on Dan Hooker’s recovery? Who do you think the #6 lightweight contender should fight in his next bout? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
The post Justin Gaethje, Arman Tsarukyan, & Others in the Line of Fire as Dan Hooker’s Good News Prompts Fight Fans’ Demands appeared first on EssentiallySports.