"That was cool" - Dan Hooker anticipated the iconic Ric Flair look ahead of "bloody war" against Jalin Turner

Dan Hooker and Jalin Turner were involved in a fight of the year contender at UFC 290. Hooker edged out a split decision, but both fighters looked like they had been to war at the end of the bout.

Hooker sported a blonde hairdo as he entered the octagon. By the end of the fight, however, his hair looked more pink as it had been bloodied up through the gruelling affair with Turner.

This prompted comparisons to Ric Flair, the popular WWE superstar, who often got blood into his hair. When Hooker was asked about the comparisons on an interview with Submission Radio, he said:

"Oh yeah, yeah, I saw the Ric Flair shoutout. That was cool. I had my fingers crossed with the blonde hair going into the fight. You get a bit of blood, you look like Ric Flair, you know? I got what I want, I can hardly sit on the other side of it. I can't complain now, it was bit of a bloody war, that's how you prepare when you're going into a fight."

Check out his comments here (3:34):

---

Dan Hooker edged out the win despite sustaining injuries

The Dan Hooker-Jalin Turner fight at UFC 290 was the very definition of a blood-and-guts war. Both fighters took a serious toll on each other, with Dan Hooker suffering a couple of injuries.

During the course of the three-round bout, Hooker suffered a broken orbital bone and also ended up injuring his arm. He took to Instagram to share images of his x-rays, with the following captions:

"Jus a scratch"

"Annuda scratch."

Hooker was given the nod by two judges, who scored it 29-28 in his favor. The win has pushed 'The Hangman' to No.10 in the lightweight rankings.

Turner and Hooker put on a fight for the ages but were unfortunately overshadowed by the co-main event. Brandon Moreno and Alexandre Pantoja also went to war in a five-round slugfest, winning the fight of the night honors over the Hooker-Turner bout.