The lone fighter on the UFC 290 card to miss weight, Jalin Turner was paired up in a main card lightweight bout with New Zealand’s Dan Hooker on Saturday.
Hooker came into the bout 2-2 over his past four fights, with his most recent effort a win over Claudio Puelles last year. Turner, meanwhile, had a five-fight win streak snapped when he lost a split decision to Mateusz Gamrot back in March.
The first round kicked off with Turner having some success with the low kick and a couple of nice hard combinations. Hooker hit Turner in the groin, which stopped the action for a couple of minutes. When action resumed, Hooker was doing a good job with his leg kicks as well as body kicks throughout the round. Turner was doing very well with his hands, landing the harder shots. The round ended with each player landing big shots in a wild exchange, with Turner likely having the edge.
Following the first round, Turner picked up where he left off with his crisp boxing. Hooker continued to look to land his jab and attack the legs. Turner landed a nice head kick that hurt Dan Hooker and followed it with some hard shots and elbows. Hooker was wearing all the damage as his face was busted open from the kick. Jalin Turner was doing a very nice job of counter-striking. Dan came back with a minute left in the round and hurt Turner badly with what seemed to be a hook, almost finishing him at the end of the round. Jalin needed help getting back to the stool and was very hurt to end the round. Whether the damage was enough to have stolen Hooker the round was the question.
Fight of the Night… so far 👀 #UFC290 pic.twitter.com/FEfPfbAmus
— UFC (@ufc) July 9, 2023
The third round started with Jalin looking rocked still, but he quickly gathered himself and started putting his foot on the gas. Jalin Turner was extremely tired however and took Dan down, but Hooker got up and hurt Turner again, landing some ground and pound. Hooker remained on top and continued to look for ground and pound. He’d eat up a lot of clock on top, but may have lost his window to finish the fight. The round ended with Jalin Turner getting up and trying to find a finish, but he was unsuccessful in a potential Fight of the Year contender.
This fight was an absolute war between both men and might just land the Fight of the Night at UFC 290. Jalin Turner started fast but was unable to come away with the victory, as Hooker took the win on two scorecards.
Official Result: Dan Hooker def. Jalin Turner by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
