UFC fighter Dan Hooker was slated to battle Justin Gaethje at UFC 313, but unfortunately, he had to withdraw due to an injury.
Hooker made this announcement on his daughter’s YouTube channel. “Dad had a fight or was supposed to have a fight, but I’ve busted my paw,” Hooker said.
The fighter further explained that he suffered a broken hand during sparring, which was why he had to pull out of the fight. Despite his injury, Hooker said he would still like to face Gaethje and would like to reschedule the bout.
“Just sparring last night as I do, just letting some hooks go, just throwing some bombs down range and just caught one of the boys on the top of the dome with my knuckle.” Hooker told Sky Sport NZ.
“I didn’t think much of it. They sent me off to get a CT scan,” Hooker continued. “I obviously still would fight. I’ll be like, ‘Hey, can I have one large glove and one 3XL?”
Notwithstanding the recent change in opponent, Gaethje still plans to appear in the octagon at UFC 313. In an episode on Daniel Cormier’s YouTube channel, the fighter said that he’s down to battle any fighter who is brought in as a short-notice replacement.
“My first call in the form at six o’clock in the morning. I called JG.” Daniel Cormier stated on his YouTube channel earlier today. “I want to know, what’s happening? Is there a preference? There are people already stepping up that want the fight. [They want] the significance of stepping in there with Justin Gaethje.”
He continued, “But, moving forward, Justin Gaethje is still fighting. I called him this morning, and my immediate question was: ‘Do you have any plans not to fight this next week?’ He said, ‘Are you f*cking crazy?’ That’s Justin Gaethje. He goes, ‘Are you crazy? Of course, I’m fighting.’… I said, ‘Who do you want?’ He said, ‘I’ll fight any one of those guys’. But for me, I want him versus Renato Moicano.”
For now, there is no certain opponent to step in, but many have volunteered. One of them is Rafael Fiziev, who lost a majority decision in the fight against Gatheje at UFC 286. Soon after this he battled Mateusz Gamrot but suffered an injury that has kept him out of the ring since 2023, but he believes a win against Gaethje will be a good comeback for him.
Next is Renato Moicano, who says he would be willing to volunteer on short notice. The fighter is known for his readiness to battle anytime. He recently suffered a loss to Islam Makhachev at his last outing in a shirt notice bout.
Despite his injury, Hooker has requested that the fight be rescheduled for a later date. For now, UFC is yet to make any announcement on if there might be a rescheduling instead of a short-notice fight, but Gaethje is ready regardless of the decision made.
UFC 313 takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on March 8. Alex Pereira defends his light heavyweight title against Magomed Ankalaev in the main event.
