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Tonight's UFC 243 co-main event featured an exciting Lightweight bout between Dan Hooker and Al Iaquinta, with the latter stepping into the Octagon for the very first time since 4th of May, 2019.
Dan Hooker, on the other hand, was competing in his first fight since July 2019, and did well to secure a vital win over Raging Al in Melbourne, Australia.
Hangman Hooker's run in the UFC
Dan Hooker made his UFC debut in 2014 and since then has shared the octagon with some of the finest fighters in the form of Maximo Blanco, Ross Pearson, Jim Miller, and Edson Barboza.
Heading into his fight against Iaquinta, Hooker was on the back of a huge win over James Vick from UFC on ESPN 4, a fight he won via first-round knockout. Prior to his win over Vick, the Hangman suffered a loss to Edson Barboza, who handed the former his first loss via strikes in MMA history.
Dan Hooker wins in Australia
The fight commenced in a back-and-forth manner as Hooker managed to connect with a few sharp kicks and strikes, despite the two men trading some hits. With the first-round coming to an end, Hooker managed to strike with a solid jab.
As the fight resumed in the second round, Iaquinta started off in a strong fashion but Hooker's leg kicks once again turned out to be the turning point in the round, as Hangman kept his opponent pinned down with the brutal leg kicks.
In the final round of the fight, Hooker started to look more and more comfortable as he kept sticking to his leg kicks which didn't let Iaquinta connect with any further big shots. Hooker kept hitting with jabs and strikes throughout the round as the fight eventually came to an end with the Kiwi fighter winning via unanimous decision of a final scoreline of 30-27, 30-27, 30-26.
Hooker calls out Dustin Poirier
In his post-fight Octagon interview, Dan Hooker called out former interim Lightweight Champion Dustin Poirier and challenged him to a fight in New Zealand for 2020.
