As UFC lightweight star Dan Hooker nurses his injured hand, he’s been busy out there in his native country of New Zealand promoting fights. ‘The Hangman’ has been sharing clips on his social media handles from his underground fighting event, known as the King of the Streets, which has garnered online traction. However, Hooker seems to be facing a hurdle in his attempts to promote the fights, prompting him to ask Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg for aid.
Dan Hooker’s backyard has been popping since Memorial Day, as he gathered 32 fighters of different statures for the aforementioned open-weight tournament. There have been numerous clips surfacing online showing some devastating knockouts, with one fighter standing out for getting face-planted on the grassy floor. Hooker’s event found a sponsor in The Doctor Social, who now finds their Instagram page compromised.
Yes, according to the Kiwi lightweight, The Doctor Social had been posting clips from the King of the Streets event, garnering positive responses and making thousands of impressions. But for some unexplained reason, Dan Hooker claims the event’s sponsors account had been removed, so to secure the account and get it back, ‘The Hangman’ has placed a request to Mark Zuckerberg, who owns the social media platform.
In an Instagram story, Dan Hooker wrote, “”[Mark Zuckerberg] can you help us out? Our sponsor [The Doctor Social] just put on the best fight show in the world for free, and his page got deleted.” Doubling down in his request to the Meta CEO, the UFC star further added, “Can you help?”
MMA: UFC Fight Night-Allen vs Hooker, Mar 19, 2022 London, UK Dan Hooker blue gloves before his fight against Arnold Allen during UFC Fight Night at O2 Arena. Mandatory Credit: Per Haljestam-USA TODAY Sports, 19.03.2022 23:18:08, 17931803, UFC Fight Night, Dan Hooker, Arnold Allen, MMA PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xPerxHaljestamx 17931803
Well, there have been some serious problems for Dan Hooker besides the Instagram issue. While the fights were taking place, the police were alerted because the New Zealand Boxing Coaches Association didn’t seem to approve of such a competition, calling it “thuggery.” Despite that, Hooker looks determined to continue with his promotion. He even went on to respond to those criticisms with a scathing remark of his own.
Dan Hooker responds to criticisms about his backyard fighting event
In response to them calling the authorities, Dan Hooker bashed the boxing officials in New Zealand for making “assumptions” out of thin air because they saw certain videos on social media and misinterpreted the whole situation. While he’s agitated in that regard, he also feels fortunate to get the media attention that is working wonders for the promotion of his events, and that’s why ‘The Hangman’ doesn’t seem too worried.
“Some old boxing heads watched the same Instagram videos as everyone else, and they just made assumptions. You make assumptions, you make an a** out of yourself and an a** out of me,” Dan Hooker told The Mac Life. “But it’s like they’re doing the promotion for me. I’m in the national paper. I’m in the paper in Australia. Sheer f**kery. I’m sitting at home in my frog PJs with my daughter saying, ‘Yeah, I’m a real thug, mate.’”
The UFC lightweight star has assured everyone that precautionary steps have been taken and he’s got all the necessary parties, like the medical team, judges, and officials, to look after the fights and the fighters. The event truly brings back memories of Kimbo Slice‘s backyard brawls, which gained him infamy. But do you think Dan Hooker’s event deserves the backlash that it’s been getting? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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