UFC lightweight contender Dan Hooker has explained why he’s no longer fighting Bobby Green.
‘The Hangman’ and ‘King’ were slated to clash next month at UFC Austin. For Dan Hooker, he was hoping to score his third win in a row, previously scoring victories over Jalin Turner and Claudio Puelles. Meanwhile, Bobby Green is coming off a knockout win over Grant Dawson in October, his second in a row.
Sadly for fans, that lightweight bout will no longer be happening. Earlier this week, Dan Hooker withdrew from the five-round clash at UFC Austin. As of now, Bobby Green has no replacement opponent, but names such as Rafael dos Anjos and Terrance McKinney have offered to step up.
For his part, Dan Hooker took ownership of the canceled bout in a recent interview with Submission Radio. There, he stated that he broke his arm against Jalin Turner earlier this summer, and re-injured that same arm in sparring. In the interview, the New Zealand native admitted that he rushed back to fight Bobby Green too soon.
“[In] sparring yesterday, copped a bit of a kick,” Dan Hooker told Submission Radio after pulling out of his scheduled fight with Bobby Green. “Got sent to an X-ray. She’s custard … Yeah, it just broke in the same place, and it kind of is what it is. I took a risk. I obviously came back a little quicker than … Yeah, like, it’s all on me. I rushed to come back, I wanted to fight. I knew the risk of coming back that quickly, and we rolled the dice and we come up snake eyes, baby.” (h/t MMAJunkie)
He continued, “Yeah, just sparring yesterday. Bro, one of those things. I blocked a thousand kicks in the last couple of months. Just one hit on the right spot and it just, yeah. It is what it is. I’ll be back.”
What do you make of these comments from Dan Hooker? Who do you want Bobby Green to fight next month at UFC Austin?
