Dan Hooker vs Nasrat Haqparast added to UFC 266 on Sept. 25

Dan Hooker will return to action at UFC 266 on Sept. 25, 2021, against Nasrat Haqparast. The fight, originally reported by BJPenn.com earlier this week, was confirmed by UFC during UFC Vegas 34’s ESPN/ESPN+ broadcast.

The New Zealand fighter has been vocal about wanting to get back in the cage, and who wouldn’t want to after the disappointing way his 2021 started: with a first round knockout to Michael Chandler at UFC 257 in January. Before that, Hooker lost a hard-fought decision to Dustin Poirier in June 2020.

Those two losses have dropped “The Hangman” out of the Lightweight Top 5 down to a No. 8 ranking. Numerous fighters are only looking to compete against people higher than them on the ladder, but that doesn’t seem to be the case for Hooker, whose opponent Nasrat Haqparast is unranked and 5-2 UFC (13-3 MMA).

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It will be interesting to see how big of a sacrifice it will be for Hooker to head out to Las Vegas for UFC 266. New Zealand is currently trying to stem a breakout of COVID-19 inside its borders, and there aren’t a lot of travel vouchers available to allow Hooker back into the country once he leaves.

Following his UFC 257 loss, Hooker was stuck in limbo away from his family for more than 50 days. With restrictions only tightening, he may want to hope for a definitive win and quick turnaround stateside rather than a return home.

Hooker’s addition is just an extra cherry on top of a nice sundae for hardcore fight fans. Headlined by Alexander Volkanovski vs. Brian Ortega for the Featherweight title, the card also features Valentina Shevchenko vs. Lauren Murphy for the women’s Flyweight strap and a rematch between Nick Diaz and Robbie Lawler.

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