‘Just a scratch, baby’: Dan Hooker has surgery for broken arm

UFC lightweight Dan Hooker is on the mend after undergoing surgery to correct his second arm injury of 2023.

The Kiwi, who was in line to fight Bobby Green in the upcoming UFC event in Texas, was forced to withdraw from the fight it emerged last week after suffering a gnarly injury to his arm — the second time this year that an arm injury forced him to pull out of a bout, after he was nixed from a fight with Jalin Turner earlier in 2023. Hooker would eventually recover and defeat Turner by split decision in their rescheduled fight this past summer.

Somewhat coincidentally, Turner has since replaced Hooker in this weekend’s event in Austin.

And despite Hooker facing another enforced spell on the sidelines while he recovers from surgery, the New Zealand native doesn’t appear to be letting the situation get him down.

“Surgery done and dusted this morning,” said Hooker alongside a picture of him wearing a hospital gown. “Not my first and definitely won’t be my last time under the knife haha. Can see how this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but I’m built for this game. Just a scratch baby, can’t wait to scrap again.”

Hooker has also stated that previous surgery to repair the arm this year did not see the bone fuse correctly, and that marrow has been inserted into the bone to ensure this happens second time around. There is no indication as to when he will be available to fight once again.

Among his well-wishers on social media was Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg, who wrote: “Glad it went well. Good luck with the recovery.”