Dan Hooker took more damage than we realized before his UFC Qatar loss to Arman Tsarukyan this past November. Speaking on Monday’s edition of “The Ariel Helwani Show,” Hooker revealed he actually suffered a broken nose from Tsarukyan’s unexpected head-butt during their weigh-in staredown.
“I actually didn’t process [the loss] until I woke up in bed this morning, mate,” Hooker told Uncrowned. “I kind of just kept compartmentalizing it. It’s not something I really processed, and because I did get another fight so fast [for UFC 325], you don’t really get into what went wrong — and it was f***ing when this c*** f***ing head-butted me at the weigh-in and broke my f***ing nose, it pissed me right off.
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“But you can’t get emotional at that stage of the fight. You’re obviously — mate, I was fuming. I wanted that back, but you just have to brush it off, put that in the back of your mind. But I was steamed, bro. I was steamed. That threw me off, for sure.”
Hooker, 35, entered the UFC Qatar headliner after a lengthy layoff, having recovered from a broken hand. He clarified that the break in his nose ultimately wasn’t physically bothersome in the fight itself, but it was mentally viewed as more of a one-up for his opponent, which got to him.
Despite his best efforts, Hooker suffered defeat via a second-round arm triangle choke, snapping his three-fight win streak. It wasn’t until after that Qatar officials confirmed to Hooker what he already knew about his health.
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“They scanned me after the fight and took me to hospital, they were like, ‘You’ve got a fractured nose.’ C***, that was the weigh-in,” Hooker said. “That had absolutely nothing to do with the fight. Then, for this fight, they were like, ‘You’ve got to medically clear [the nose] for this fight,’ and I just flat refused, brother. You already let me have one fight with it — now you’re going to stop me from having another fight with it? That was from the weigh-in, brother. That had nothing to do with the fight.
“In what world can you smoke a guy’s nose at the weigh-in, then they just — yeah, he got me. Kudos to him. I’m not even mad at Arman, it is what it is. I didn’t know that there was no commission [in Qatar].”
Tsarukyan’s pre-fight aggression was viewed as concerning at the time, as it could’ve led to the cancellation of the fight, especially if the promotion knew Hooker’s nose was broken. UFC CEO Dana White has also since shared his displeasure with the incident. Tsarukyan, the current No. 1-ranked lightweight contender, was excluded from the recent interim lightweight title bout at UFC 324.
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Although Hooker had a budding rivalry with Tsarukyan, he has no ill will toward his fellow contender afterward. Gearing up for his next fight against Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC 325 on Saturday, Hooker has watched how the landscape has shaken out, and even sides with Tsarukyan’s side.
“I feel bad, I like Arman now. He’s won me over as a fan,” Hooker said. “That’s the saddest part about it is that the best years of his career are being wasted, bro. Wasted. He should be fighting [lightweight champion] Ilia [Topuria]. Who don’t want to see that? Let’s be real, let’s be honest — everyone put their honest hat on. After watching Paddy [Pimblett] vs. [Justin] Gaethje, who the f** thinks Gaethje can beat Ilia?”
When asked if he ever considered pulling out of the Tsarukyan fight because of his broken nose, Hooker responded exactly as expected.
“F*** no,” he said.
