One of UFC 285’s bright spots is no more.
New Zealand lightweight Dan Hooker has been forced out of his fight with Jalin Turner, which had previously been confirmed for the Las Vegas card.
The culprit is a had injury, and marks the second high-profile fight lost in March after Nathaniel Wood was forced out of his UFC 286 match-up with Lerone Murphy.
MMA Fighting was first to report news of Hooker’s ailment. The search is now underway to find Turner a replacement.
“The Hangman” had been looking to build on a win over Claudio Puelles at UFC 281 in November. That victory snapped a two-fight skid Hooker had suffered, with back-to-back losses against Islam Makhachev and Arnold Allen.
UFC 285 takes place March 4, 2023 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The return of Jon Jones tops the marquee, with the former light heavyweight champion making his long awaited heavyweight debut. He’ll face Ciryl Gane for the title vacated by the departing Francis Ngannou.
The following match-ups have been reported for UFC 285 thus far:
- Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gane – for the vacant UFC heavyweight championship
- Valentina Shevchenko (c) vs. Alexa Grasso – for the UFC women’s flyweight championship
- Geoff Neal vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov
- Bo Nickal vs. Jamie Pickett
- Derek Brunson vs. Dricus du Plessis
- Ian Garry vs. Song Kenan
- Viviane Araújo vs. Amanda Ribas
- Julian Marquez vs. Marc-André Barriault
- Jessica Penne vs. Tabatha Ricci
- Da’Mon Blackshear vs. Farid Basharat
- Kamuela Kirk vs. Esteban Ribovics
- Cody Garbrandt vs. Trevin Jones
- Cameron Saaiman vs. Leomana Martinez
- Jalin Turner vs. TBD
