Dan Hooker gets tougher by the day. Or, perhaps, we just learn more about him.
After defeating Jalin Turner via split decision on Saturday at UFC 290, Hooker revealed he suffered a broken arm. The 33-year-old fighter broke the news to fans with a photo of his X-ray on Twitter. Now, history is repeating itself.
On Monday, “The Hangman” Hooker posted another x-ray to social media. This time, the image displayed Hooker’s skull with a facial fracture near his right cheekbone. He captioned the post, “Anudda scratch.”
Hooker likely suffered the injury after taking a severe kick to the head in the second round. For reference, the fights are three rounds.
For more reference, Turner dominated Hooker early. If it’s still not adding up, let me explain: Hooker only improved after suffering a broken arm and face. The lightweight fighter’s caption on his X-ray was a reference back to his post-fight interview.
Following the three-round war, UFC commentator Joe Rogan asked Hooker if he suffered any injuries. The 6-foot scrapper couldn’t help but laugh.
“It’s just a scratch. We’ll have to see,” Hooker said with a smile.
Those are some serious scratches. Nonetheless, Hooker is used to battle. Hooker has over 20 fights in the UFC, including bouts against stars such as Dustin Poirer, Islam Makhachev and Michael Chandler. The New Zealand native is currently ranked as the No. 10 contender in his weight class.
Although Hooker isn’t a stranger to pain, he didn’t realize his face was broken until long after the fight.
“I didn’t even know about this over here [referring to his facial fracture] until I went to the… they booked me with a surgeon, like an orthopedic surgeon for my arm. And then I went and saw him and that [arm], I definitely knew, I knew in the fight that that was 100% broken… I was like, ‘Why are they booking me with a face surgeon?
“Then, he scanned me, and he was like, ‘Come over and look at this.’ That’s when I took a photo of it. I was like, ‘Oh, I didn’t even know that was gone, like man, that one’s in play.’ That one will fix up naturally. That one doesn’t need any surgery, so that’s good,” Hooker said on a recent episode of “Submission Radio.”
It’s the simple things in life. While others might cover their eyes to avoid the mortifying results, Hooker isn’t bothered.
“[The broken arm is] pretty sore. But what are you going to do about it?” Hooker said on “The MMA Hour.” “We’ll get it all fixed up and back to 100% in no time.”
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