Dan Hooker shares timeline for UFC return, names Rafael Fiziev and Brazilian lightweight contender as potential opponents

UFC lightweight Dan Hooker discussed his return to action and potential opponents from the division.

Hooker last fought in July 2023 at UFC 290 and won via split decision against Jalin Turner. He was later injured ahead of his scheduled UFC on ESPN: Dariush vs. Tsarukyan co-main bout and has remained on the sidelines.

In an interview with Sky Sport NZ, Hooker mentioned that he would return to training next week:

“I get an all-clear from the surgeon come next week and then once I get that all cleared, I can pick my training back up… And then I have my eyes on June, the June International Fight Week... It’s good to have like – especially at this stage of your career – to have a good amount of time like that off. So I’m just excited. There’s still big fights in the lightweight division... And as always, you take the best guy you can possibly get your hands on come June.”

Hooker then delved into the top performing contenders in the division and mentioned Rafael Fiziev and Renato Moicano:

“Anyone wants to have a fight? I’m in. We’ll see. It’s like, I always think, I look at the rankings and I go who does no one want to fight? I think [Rafael] Fiziev. I don’t think anyone wants to fight Fiziev. So who’s probably dumb enough to put the hand up for that fight? The guy over here. But there’s a lot of exciting fights, like [Renato] Moicano is coming off a big win. I think I can get that fight in a heartbeat. And I’ll be happy with that Moicano fight, it’s an exciting fight, he’s definitely won me over as a fan with these last couple of post-fight interviews.”

Check out his full comments below (29:25):

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Dan Hooker explains why he laughed at Alexander Volkanovski knockout

Dan Hooker's teammate and former featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski lost his title to a devastating knockout at the hands of Ilia Topuria.

In a video uploaded to another fellow teammate Israel Adesanya's YouTube channel, Hooker is seen laughing in reaction to Volkanovski's loss.

Hooker took to X to clarify the reason behind his laughter and cited the volatility of combat sports. He wrote:

''Volk in my opinion is the best to ever glove up, he’s looking great and from my understanding of the game-plan had begun to establish ascendency. Then he just gets caught, disbelief and then I thought 'what a dumb sport we play and laughed at myself.'"