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Dan Hooker shares grisly video update of hand injury that forced him off UFC 313

Originally posted on MMA on SI | By Drew Beaupre | Last updated Mar 12, 2025 12:16 PM ET

Dan Hooker is currently far from being fight-ready, but the hand injury that derailed his last matchup does at least appear to be healing up.

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Ranked at #6 in the UFC lightweight rankings, Hooker is currently on a three-fight win streak that includes fellow top lightweight contender Matuesz Gamrot and the recently-retired Jalin Turner.

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“The Hangman” was scheduled to try and extend that run in a huge matchup with former interim lightweight and BMF titleholder Justin Gaethje at UFC 313, but unfortunately the co-main event booking fell apart when Hooker fractured his hand less than two weeks before the event.

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Gaethje ended up defeating #11-ranked lightweight Rafael Fiziev at UFC 313 in a rematch of their 2023 meeting, and in the aftermath of the fight “The Highlight” has called for a title shot against reigning Lightweight Champion Islam Makhachev.

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"The Hangman" Shares Update On Hand Injury

Hooker underwent surgery shortly after the injury forced him off of UFC 313, and the 35-year-old recently shared an update on Instagram that includes footage of the stitches being removed from his hand.

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A member of the UFC roster since 2014, Hooker initially joined the promotion as a featherweight and returned to that weight class in a stoppage-loss to Arnold Allen in 2022 but has found significantly more success in the UFC lightweight division.

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A win over Gaethje could have put “The Hangman” in line for his first crack at UFC gold, but whenever Hooker does fully recover from his injury he’ll almost certainly been given another matchup that will allow him to try and crack the lightweight Top 5.

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Gaethje has a strong case to challenge Makhachev next following UFC 313 as one of the few top lightweights that hasn’t faced the champion yet, but fans are also waiting to see what the UFC plans to do with Ilia Topuria after the undefeated fighter vacated the featherweight belt to move up to 155 lbs.

This article first appeared on MMA on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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