It's shades off, gloves on for Hooker come Sunday at UFC 290. Photo / Getty Images
UFC lightweight and 'Team NZ captain' Dan ‘The Hangman’ Hooker (Ngāti Maniapoto) is back in the octagon as part of one of the UFC’s biggest fight cards created so far for this year.
This weekend will see him rumble with American Jalin Turner (14-6), a fight that was supposed to happen in March but never came to fruition due to Hooker sustaining a hand injury.
The dance with Turner follows Hooker's latest win over Claudio Puelles, comfortably getting the victory via TKO in Madison Square Garden last November.
Hooker, with a fresh light blonde look, says his UFC 290 main card fight with ‘The Tarantula’ Turner is exactly what he needs to get back up the top 10 lightweight rankings and fighting for the gold.
“I’m not fighting him for fun or for money. There are plenty of others I could be doing that for.
“[Jalin’s] a really talented kid to get myself back in that conversation. A win over Jalin, especially an impressive performance, I think, does that.
“There’s a reason that a lot of guys were turning his name down, it seems to be the guys that I’m always getting. It’s because he’s a dangerous opponent.”
Hooker's days away from his first fight for 2023. Credit: YouTube / UFC.
Dangerous indeed. Nine knockouts, four submissions, 10 first-round finishes for Turner. And Hooker welcomes the chaos on International Fight Week in Las Vegas.
“Everything I’ve asked from the sport over the years, I got.
“I want to get in the rankings, I want to be rich. You tick all of these things, you get them and you’re like; ‘This sucks. I want more.’ I want to be the champ, that’s the only reason I’m here.”
Hooker is one of six Australia/New Zealand athletes on an ANZ takeover of UFC this Sunday, headlined by his friend and featherweight champion Alexander 'The Great' Volkanovski.
To see if ‘The Hangman’ can continue the momentum of his impressive November victory against Jalin Turner, be sure to watch UFC 290's main card this Sunday from 2pm NZ time.
