Hooker beats Covid-19 odds to make his
In a world where nothing is normal, Kiwi fighter has faced all kinds of tests before his toughest fight. Mat Kermeen reports.
DAN Hooker has already achieved what most people considered to be impossible by landing in the US, now it’s just a matter of throwing down in the biggest fight of his life.
The Kiwi UFC lightweight contender is potentially only one win away from his dream of a world title shot, but standing in his way and on the other side of the UFC Apex Octagon in Las Vegas is former interim champion, and No 3-ranked contender Dustin Poirier.
Hooker, who has the New Zealand flag that he will carry to the Octagon proudly hanging up in his hotel room, is on the cusp of following in the footsteps of City Kickboxing team-mate Israel Adesanya to fighting for UFC championship glory.
‘‘The guy that wins this fight is the guy that lines himself to step in for the title shot,’’ Hooker said.
It’s a tough test but ‘The Hangman’ is getting used to tests. Hooker and his coaches – Eugene Bareman, Andrei Paulet and Mike Angove – were all tested for Covid-19 when they arrived in Las Vegas and then placed into isolation away from the public and other fighters.
Hooker, who is coming off a brutal five-round war when he edged American Paul Felder in a split-decision victory in Auckland in February, described the experience as ‘‘very surreal’’.
‘‘It was pretty weird coming through the airport and having the gates shut when we arrived. There was only two flights leaving [Auckland], and once they opened the gate we walked right through security because there was not a lot of people.
‘‘It was the fastest I’ve ever gone through security,’’ Hooker said from Las Vegas on Friday.
‘‘Everything was closed in Auckland, all the shops, everything was closed in LAX as well so it was a little bit airy.’’
Just managing to gain access to the US in the middle of the global coronavirus pandemic seemed to be mission impossible. The fight was originally scheduled for May 16, but the pandemic forced it back. A week ago, Hooker, the No 5 ranked UFC contender, didn’t even have a visa to enter the US.
Hooker then received a phone call from the US ambassador to New Zealand, asking him what he needed. He told him that he was the main event in a UFC fight in a week and the following day he had a visa.
When you’re facing up to the challenge and opportunity that Hooker (20-8) is today, you would think it important to have everything run smoothly, but the 30-year-old Aucklander doesn’t seem in the slightest bit fazed by his astronomically abnormal preparation, including the extra measures that needed to be taken when he arrived in the US.
‘‘It was pretty crazy when we were landing in LA [Los Angeles], everyone was putting their gloves on and their masks on, it was kind of like everyone was getting ready for battle.’’
That arrival came three days later than usual with Hooker arriving in the US on
Tuesday (US time) rather than the normal Sunday touchdown for a
Saturday night fight.
But considering much of Hooker’s camp was spent in New Zealand’s level 4 lockdown, when he couldn’t even train at his gym, let alone his City Kickboxing base with training partners, arriving a few days late is just another small bump in the road to a title shot.
With the carrot of the massive opportunity of the Poirier fight dangling in front of him, Hooker said it was easy to stay motivated and find ways to keep training on his own during the lockdown.
‘‘I never took my foot off the pedal,’’ he said. ‘‘I