Dan Hooker reveals he's back to normal after recent defeat, reflects on Dustin Poirier fight

Dan Hooker is coming off a defeat against Dustin Poirier in what was widely regarded as a Fight of the Year candidate. The best word to describe the fight would be a "war" and that's exactly what both men went through.

While Dan Hooker found early success, Dustin Poirier managed to do enough to secure a unanimous decision victory. Due to the amount of damage that Dan Hooker took in the fight, his face was busted up.

However, he posted an update on Instagram revealing that he's had a quick recovery,

In an interview with MMA Fighting, Dan Hooker revealed that he came out of the fight with no injuries:

“Just stitches on my eyes. They did facial scans and nothing’s fractured, nothing broken. It’s hard to know at the time because everything swells up. As it’s come down I’m back to normal.”

Dan Hooker reflected on the fight, showing a sense of pride over the war he went through with Dustin Poirier. While he would naturally have preferred a win, he said that he will learn and make the necessary adjustments going forward:

“You get caught up in the brawl, caught up in the fight of it. It is what it is,” Hooker said. “I’ll learn from it, I’ll make those improvements. Hopefully getting the win next time round.

Dan Hooker's next step

It's going to be interesting to see where Dan Hooker stands in the 155-pound division. He was a fight or two away from a title shot and will have to work his way back up. As of now, he's still ranked #5.

Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje are expected to lock horns later this year to unify the Lightweight Championship. Dustin Poirier vs Tony Ferguson would be a realistic direction to go in as well.