Dan Hooker hoped his “quality fighting words” would get him to take on Tony Ferguson, but they gave him another guy: Claudio Price.
Hooker vs. Puelles has joined the lineup for UFC 281, upcoming pay-per-view event scheduled for November 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The fight was first reported by Fordewin MMA on Twitter. Both have since confirmed the report on their respective social media accounts.
Despite a 1-4 record in the past five fights, Hooker was tied with a featherweight and featherweight in that bout. The series’ notable names share the octagon. The Executioner lost back-to-back losses to Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler, but bounced back in a unanimous decision over Nasrat Hakpalast. He fills in as a temporary replacement for Rafael dos Anjos, who is expected to fight Islam Makhachev at UFC 267 last October. Hook was submitted through the first round of Kimura.
City kickboxing product then opted to drop down to 145 pounds, a weight class he competed in early in his career. His first assignment was against strong contender Arnold Allen at UFC London, where he ended with a first-round TKO. Hooker announced his return to lightweight shortly after.
Since in Ultimate Fighter: Latin America 3 Finals about six years ago. The “Prince of Peru” recently won the “Performance of the Night” award for Clay Guida’s first-round knee at UFC Vegas 52 in April. That was the third time he won with a knee, and the most in UFC history.
UFC 281 headlines the mid-weight between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira Championship fight.
