Dan Hooker has revealed that a weigh-in incident played a decisive role in the buildup to his November fight with Arman Tsarukyan.
Dan Hooker has detailed how Arman Tsarukyan broke his nose during the ceremonial faceoff before their November lightweight clash.
The injury was not identified until after the fight, despite occurring before either fighter had stepped into the cage.
Dan Hooker explains how Arman Tsarukyan broke his nose
Dan Hooker said Arman Tsarukyan fractured his nose during the weigh-in faceoff before their November fight, when the two clashed heads during the staredown.
The damage went undiagnosed at the time, and the bout proceeded as scheduled. Speaking on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Hooker detailed the incident
“When this guy headbutted me at the weigh-ins and broke my nose, it really upset me. They scanned me after the fight and told me I had a fractured nose, and I said that was from the weigh-in; it had nothing to do with the fight.”
The fracture was only discovered during post-fight medical checks, after Dan Hooker had already suffered a second-round submission loss.
The injury later caused issues when medical clearance was required for his next scheduled bout.
Broken nose did not stop Dan Hooker from fighting on
Dan Hooker said withdrawing from competition was never considered despite the diagnosis, explaining that the injury did not physically affect him. The situation instead had a mental impact heading into the contest.
“You cannot get emotional at that stage of the fight, but I was fuming. It did not bother me physically, it was more a mental thing, like someone getting one up on you before the fight even starts.”
Dan Hooker added that he holds no resentment toward Arman Tsarukyan and has since moved on, with his focus now on remaining active in the lightweight division.
The revelation has added further context to the fallout from the weigh-in incident and the reaction that followed.
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