Dan Hooker will no longer be fighting Bobby Green at UFC Austin.
According to New Zealand Herald’s Christopher Reive, Hooker has suffered an arm injury which has forced him to pull out of his UFC Austin co-main event fight against Bobby Green. The UFC is now reportedly looking for a new opponent to replace Hooker and fight Green on 10 days’ notice.
Dan Hooker (23-12) is on a two-fight win streak and coming off a split-decision win over Jalin Turner back in July. In the fight, Hooker had broken his arm, and Reive adds that this injury which is forcing him out of UFC Austin is the same arm he broke earlier this year. Prior to the win over Turner, Hooker had scored a TKO win over Claudio Puelles to snap his two-fight losing skid.
Hooker is 13-8 in the UFC and has notable wins over Gilbert Burns, Paul Felder, Al Iaquinta, James Vick, Jim Miller, and Marc Diakese among others.
Bobby Green (31-14-1 and one No Contest) is coming off a 33-second knockout win over Grant Dawson back in October after submitting Tony Ferguson in July. The win over Ferguson came after a No Contest against Jared Gordon, and losing back-to-back fights to Drew Dober and Islam Makhachev. Green is 12-9-1 and one No Contest in the UFC and holds notable wins over Al Iaquinta, Clay Guida, and Josh Thomson among others.
Following the news, Bobby Green took to social media and asked UFC fighters who would be a gangster like him and step up on short notice.
“Let’s see who’s gangster like me. I fought on 10 days’ notice, I went on two weeks’ notice, I made weight, passed the f**k out, my lungs collapsed, and everything on two weeks’ notice. I did it all. Let me see who gangster like me, I guarantee you nobody steps up, let’s find out,” Green said in an Instagram story.
Following Bobby Green asking people to step up, former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos took to social media to offer his services at UFC Austin.
“Hey @BobbyKGreen Austin is backyard. Let’s Scrap,” with dos Anjos also adding in another tweet “I can make 165/170 let’s do it.”
Rafael dos Anjos was also not the only name to call out Bobby Green, instead Terrance McKinney also threw his name in the hat to be a replacement opponent at UFC Austin.
“I’m in @ufc what’s up would be a honor to throw down with king but every torch must be past down… I’m gangsta like that too Matt Frevola 10 day notice Drew Dober 8 day notice Brandon Morotte 6 day notice,” McKinney wrote.
Finally, Jared Gordon, who fought Bobby Green earlier this year in a No Contest due to an accidental head butt is calling for a rematch.
“Run it back,” Gordon wrote.
As of right now, Bobby Green hasn’t responded to any of these fighters. But, there are several interested people in this fight so hopefully Green will remain on UFC Austin.