In the last fight of his career, Dustin Poirier will be confronted for the third time with Max Holloway in the main event of UFC 318 in New Orleans.
They met for the first time on UFC 143 where Poirier Holloway submitted before the two legends brought it back in an incredible five-round war on UFC 236 in 2019.
'The Diamond' has previously stated that people like Justin Gaethje and Ilia Topuria were the two names he had in mind for his last dance.
Another favorite lightweight of the fan with which the resident of Louisiana has history has now revealed that the UFC was planning to have him compete on the same night, so that he could step into the main event if necessary.
Dan Hooker reveals surgery that will probably prevent him from being the UFC 318 -back hunter
Many Vecht fans were happy to see the trilogy fight between Dustin Poirier and Max Holloway to come together for various reasons.
They are not only two of the most exciting hunters on the Roster, it is a perfect way for 'The Diamond' to drive into the sunset after they have competed against a colleague legend for his home crowd.
However, the UFC had already taken precautions in case something happened with one of the two men involved in the UFC 318 Main Event by trying to set plans for a back -up hunter.
Then Hooker would face Justin Gaethje in March on UFC 313 until a hand injury 'The Hangman' from the Co-Main event of five round forced.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
The 35-year-old stated after the injury that he hoped to return in the summer with UFC 317 on International Fight Week as a potential destination.
During a recent performance at Sky Sports Nieuw -Zeeland Hooker revealed that the promotion had contacted him about the booked before July 19, so that he could be the back -up hunter.
“I knew that this fight went down for a long time because they wanted me to have a back -up of this fight. They wanted to get me a lightweight, just fight against every old lightweight on the map and if one of these guys were injured, the UFC wanted to intervene and back up for the BMF title.”
Hooker continued to say that due to the need for another operation, it seems unlikely that he will be able to make this date, so that the UFC can choose to go in a different direction.
“So it would have been an incredible opportunity. Unfortunately I need a second operation on my hand, there is too much scarring tissue … It is not a big operation, they just have to cut it open and clean up some scar tissue. That would place me 9 weeks before this fight, so it would take a perfect storm for me to be, so it is not so good.”
Dan Hooker would have been the perfect replacement hunter for UFC 318
Dan Hooker is the back -up hunter for UFC 318 is completely logical, even if a matchup between him and either Dustin Poirier or Max Holloway is not as big as the trilogy we get.
Hooker and Poirier set up an immediate classic in June 2020 and somehow we have never taken 'The Hangman' against Holloway.
It certainly fits with the BMF references and there are not many names that can play this replacement role because of how specific this fight is.
Justin Gaethje would be another strong choice, but in the event that Poirier is injured, fans may not call for the prospect to see Holloway compared to 'the highlight' for a second time after his dominant victory over the former BMF champion at UFC 300.