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Dan Hooker drew the praises of the MMA world when went through every obstacle possible in order to make it to his fight at UFC 266. Yesterday he received even more praise as he stepped in to fight against Islam Makhachev at UFC 267.
Rafael dos Anjos was forced to pull out from the fight against Islam Makhachev as he was injured. Dan Hooker was still in the USA following his bout at UFC 266 and opted to fill in.
Dana White informed ESPN that Dan Hooker would be stepping in and face Islam Makhachev in the place of Rafael dos Anjos. The bout will be Dan Hooker's third in 2021.
DAN HOOKER (@danthehangman) is stepping in to face Islam Makhachev (@MAKHACHEVMMA) at UFC 267 in one month, per Dana White (@danawhite). Just fought at UFC 266, on a week he had to fly from New Zealand to Vegas two days before the fight. What a savage, this guy. pic.twitter.com/DJvGnbWwlF
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) September 30, 2021
UFC 267 takes place at UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi so there is still a good amount of travel from Dan Hooker. Things will be easier for him as he won't have to face New Zealand's strict COVID-19 protocols.
Dan Hooker is expected to stay in the United States and get prepared for Makhachev as getting back to New Zealand would make things complicated. It appears he could be stuck outside of New Zealand even longer with a return to the country very complicated.
Hooker faced many issues in his training camp for Nasrat Haqparast at UFC 266 as he wasn't allowed to train at his gym and had to do most of the training camp from home. All of the issues stem from New Zealand's strict COVID-19 protocols.
This has lead his gym, City Kickboxing, to consider moving to the United States. The move isn't 100% but his team is strongly considering it.
UFC 267 takes place at UFC Fight Island on October 30. The event is headlined by a light heavyweight title fight between Jan Blachowicz taking on Glover Teixeira.
