When the going gets tough, Dan Hooker gets going.
New Zealand UFC fighter Dan Hooker.
Photo: Photosport
A veteran of seven years in the world’s premier mixed martial arts promotion, the New Zealand lightweight had faced unique disruptions ahead of UFC 266 on Sunday (NZ time).
The first came in the form of Auckland’s Covid lockdown.
The situation forced Hooker and several team-mates to form a makeshift training bubble, only for police to shut it down and keep him out of the gym for the final two weeks of preparation.
Then came last-minute issues getting his US work visa, delaying his departure by four days and meaning arrival in Las Vegas with just two days to spare.
But Hooker had never been one for excuses, or backing down from a challenge.
So, as the disruptions had been thrown his way, the captain of the hugely successful City Kickboxing gym had absorbed the blows and kept marching forward.
“My last couple of fights have definitely been impacted by either lockdowns or quarantine restrictions,” Hooker told RNZ.
“They’ve been a pretty big roadblock, but one of the main reasons I’ve been so persistent with making this fight happen, regardless of the situation, is there’s a lot of Kiwis in tough situations and struggling with their businesses and tough times.
“I want to give them a distraction to forget about the lockdowns and this pandemic.
“They can just turn on the TV on and see a Kiwi fighting on the world stage, getting after it…
“I don’t want to complain or whinge about it too much because I’m absolutely certain people are sick to death of hearing other people complain.”
The situation New Zealand found itself in wasn’t the only reason Hooker was keeping complaints to a minimum.
Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
Ranked eighth in the star-studded lightweight division, but coming off back-to-back losses, the 31-year-old was hoping to reignite his run to the top against rising unranked prospect Nasrat Haqparast.
The German fighter of Afghan descent had faced his own obstacles obtaining a US work visa ahead of Sunday’s fight, and was also dealing with the recent death of his mother.
“Everyone has been asking me about the challenges I’ve been facing in this training camp … but that really put it in perspective for me.
“The things I’ve been going through in this training camp pale in comparison to losing your mother.
“We’ve had a bit of messaging back and forth and I relayed my condolences. He thanked me for that and there’s nothing but respect.”
Whatever happened at UFC 266, Hooker would have one thing to be happy about.
Unlike many of his City Kickboxing team-mates, and other New Zealand athletes who plied their trade overseas, he had an MIQ voucher to get back into the country a week after his fight.
But with the future on the MIQ front still unclear in many respects, Hooker predicted it may be the last time he returned for a while.
“I’m not looking past this fight but if want to fight again it looks like we’re going to have to shift overseas and away from New Zealand,” he said of himself, his wife and their young daughter.
“I’m lucky I’m in a position I make enough money where that’s possible, to spend the thousands of dollars to move to another country, get a work visa and all those different things.
“[But] I feel there’s a whole generation of athletes in a variety of different sports who need to travel out of New Zealand to compete and they’re missing out … their pursuits of their dreams and excellence are going to be destroyed by this MIQ situation…
“Taking those from people is a terrible thing, and I’m not just speaking about athletes. The whole thing is broken and it needs to be sorted very quickly.”
In the meantime, though, Hooker was determined his efforts just to get to Sunday’s fight would not be in vain.
Despite all the disruption, his no-excuses approach continued to prevail.
“I was lucky enough I did a lot of the heavy lifting early on.
“I’ve been trying to get a fight since before June, so the heavy sparring, heavy wrestling [was done] and I’ve been getting a lot of rounds, so I was in very good shape.
“Over the last couple of weeks, the technical side of things I could do online with my coaches and then it’s just about staying fit, so a lot of running and track work.
“I’ve been able to stay sharp and let body recover. I’m very confident with where I’m at.”
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